Shloka 4
अध्याय ३५१ — उञ्छवृत्ति-व्रतसिद्धेः मानुषस्य परमगतिः
Sūrya–Nāga Dialogue on the Perfected Gleaner-Ascetic
पितामहाद् यं प्रवदन्ति षष्ठं महर्षिमार्षेयवि भूतियुक्तम् । नारायणस्यांशजमेक पुत्र द्ैपायनं वेद महानिधानम्,ब्रह्माजीके आदिपुरुष जो नारायण हैं, उनके स्वरूपभूत जिन महर्षिको पूर्वपुरुष नारायणसे छठी पीढ़ीमें- उत्पन्न बताते हैं, जो ऋषियोंके सम्पूर्ण ऐश्वर्यसे सम्पन्न हैं, नारायणके अंशसे उत्पन्न हैं, अपने पिताके एक ही पुत्र हैं और द्वीपमें उत्पन्न होनेके कारण द्वैपायन कहलाते हैं, उन वेदके महान् भण्डाररूप व्यासजीको मैं प्रणाम करता हूँ
pitāmahād yaṃ pravadanti ṣaṣṭhaṃ maharṣim ārṣeyavibhūtiyuktam | nārāyaṇāṃśajam eka-putraṃ dvaipāyanaṃ veda-mahā-nidhānam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: I bow to Vyāsa—Dvaipāyana, the great treasury of the Vedas—whom they describe as the sixth in descent from the Primeval Grandfather; a great seer endowed with the full splendor of the ṛṣis; born as an emanation of Nārāyaṇa, the sole son of his father, and called “Dvaipāyana” because he was born on an island.
वैशग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse functions as a reverential invocation: it grounds the forthcoming instruction in the authority of Vyāsa as a divinely connected, Veda-embodying seer. Ethically, it models humility before sources of dharma-knowledge and frames teaching as something received through a sanctified lineage rather than invented.
Vaiśaṃpāyana pauses to offer obeisance to Vyāsa (Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana), praising his pedigree, divine origin as an emanation of Nārāyaṇa, his status as an only son, and his epithet ‘island-born.’ This sets a solemn, authoritative tone before continuing the discourse of the Śānti Parva.