Shloka 4

वृत्ति-सत्सङ्ग-दान-धर्म

Livelihood, Virtuous Association, and Ethics of Giving

Devanagari script

भीष्म उवाच शृणु राजन्‌ ज्वरस्येमं सम्भवं लोकविश्रुतम्‌ । विस्तरं चास्य वक्ष्यामि यादृशश्वैव भारत

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca śṛṇu rājan jvarasyemaṃ sambhavaṃ lokaviśrutam | vistaraṃ cāsya vakṣyāmi yādṛśaś caiva bhārata ||

Translation

Bhishma said: “Listen, O King, to this account of the origin of Fever (Jvara), renowned throughout the worlds. O Bharata, I shall describe it to you in detail, exactly as it occurred.”

Word by Word

• {'bhīṣma uvāca': 'Bhishma said', 'śṛṇu': 'listen

• hear', 'rājan': 'O king (vocative)', 'jvarasya': 'of Jvara

• of fever (personified as a being/force)', 'imam': 'this', 'sambhavam': 'origin

• birth', 'lokaviśrutam': 'famed in the worlds

• widely renowned', 'vistaram': 'in detail

• expansively', 'ca': 'and', 'asya': 'of it

• its', 'vakṣyāmi': 'I will tell

• I will explain', 'yādṛśaḥ': 'as it was

• in what manner', 'caiva': 'and indeed

• and exactly', 'bhārata': 'O Bharata (address to the Kuru king, Yudhiṣṭhira)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• the King (Yudhiṣṭhira implied)
• Jvara (Fever, personified)
• Bharata (dynastic epithet/address)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma frames the forthcoming account as universally known and worthy of careful attention, signaling that understanding the origin and nature of suffering (here, fever personified as Jvara) is part of wise governance and dharmic discernment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma begins a new episode addressed to the king, announcing that he will narrate in full detail the well-known story of how Jvara (Fever) came into existence.