Shloka 4

Devanagari script

तस्य प्रयाणे यान्यासन्‌ निमित्तानि महात्मन: । बहुन्यद्भुतरूपाणि तानि मे गदतः शृणु,महामना भगवान्‌की यात्राके समय जो बहुत-से अद्भुत शकुन प्रकट हुए, उन्हें बताता हूँ, सुनो

Transliteration

tasya prayāṇe yāny āsan nimittāni mahātmanaḥ | bahūny adbhutarūpāṇi tāni me gadataḥ śṛṇu ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “At the time of that great-souled one’s departure, many omens appeared—numerous and wondrous in form. Listen as I recount them to you.”

Word by Word

तस्यof him / his

प्रयाणेat the departure

यानिwhich (things)

आसन्were

निमित्तानिomens / portents

महात्मनःof the great-souled one

बहूनिmany

अद्भुतरूपाणिof wondrous forms

तानिthose (omens)

मेof me / my

गदतःas I am telling / of (me) speaking

शृणुhear / listen

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

the great-souled one (mahātmā; unnamed in this verse)

omens/portents (nimittāni)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the traditional dharmic idea that significant actions—especially those of a noble leader—are accompanied by meaningful signs (nimittas). Attentive listening and careful narration are presented as the proper way to transmit such ethically charged events.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana prepares the listener for a description of extraordinary omens that appeared when a great person set out on a journey, signaling that the upcoming account will interpret events through the lens of auspicious and inauspicious portents.