Shloka 4
Śānti-parva Adhyāya 30: Nārada–Parvata Samaya-bhaṅga, Śāpa, and the Marriage of Sukumārī
श्रीकृष्ण उवाच अत्र ते वर्णयिष्यामि यथावृत्तं जनेश्वर । नारद: पर्वतश्चैव द्वावृषी लोकसत्तमौ
śrīkṛṣṇa uvāca | atra te varṇayiṣyāmi yathāvṛttaṃ janeśvara | nāradaḥ parvataś caiva dvāv ṛṣī lokasattamau ||
Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: “O lord of men, here I shall relate to you the matter exactly as it occurred. Nārada and Parvata—these two sages—are foremost among all the worlds.”
श्रीकृष्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds fidelity to truth in narration (yathāvṛttam): ethical instruction should be grounded in what is accurate and witnessed, and it honors exemplary sages as authoritative conveyors of dharma.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa begins a factual account for a king, introducing Nārada and Parvata as two eminent sages who will be central to the episode he is about to recount.