Shloka 5

Parīkṣit-janma-saṃkaṭa and Kuntī’s petition to Vāsudeva (परिक्षिज्जन्मसंकटं कुन्त्याः प्रार्थना च)

Devanagari script

सर्व स्विष्टतमं कृत्वा विधिवद्‌ वेदपारग:

Transliteration

sarva sviṣṭatamaṁ kṛtvā vidhivad vedapāragaḥ

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: Having duly performed, according to the prescribed rite, the most pleasing and fully acceptable offering in every respect, the knower who had crossed to the far shore of the Vedas proceeded in accordance with sacred law.

Word by Word

• सर्वम्: all, everything
• सर्वम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• स्विष्टतमम्: most well-offered / most perfectly performed (as an oblation/rite)
• स्विष्टतमम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्विष्टतम
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• कृत्वा: having done, having performed
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage-neutral here)

• विधिवत्: according to rule, duly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: विधिवत्

• वेदपारगः: one who has mastered the Vedas
• वेदपारगः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वेदपारग
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Vedas
• ritual offering (sviṣṭa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes dharma as disciplined correctness: sacred acts gain their full ethical and spiritual force when performed vidhivat—according to the proper rule—by one grounded in Vedic knowledge.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator describes a learned Veda-master completing a sacrifice/oblation in the most proper and pleasing way, marking the successful conclusion of a ritual step within the Ashvamedhika Parva’s sacrificial setting.