Shloka 37
Udyoga Parva, Adhyaya 104: Nārada on Suhṛt and Nirbandha; the Viśvāmitra–Gālava Exemplum Begins
प्रत्यक्षदर्शी सर्वस्य नारदो5यं महातपा: । माहात्म्यस्य तदा विष्णो: सो5यं चक्रगदाधर:
pratyakṣadarśī sarvasya nārado ’yaṃ mahātapāḥ | māhātmyasya tadā viṣṇoḥ so ’yaṃ cakragadādharaḥ ||
Kaṇva said: “This Nārada, a great ascetic, is a direct witness to everything. And this one here—bearing the discus and the mace—is that very Viṣṇu, whose greatness was then being spoken of.”
कण्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes reliable moral and spiritual authority: Nārada is presented as an all-seeing eyewitness, and Viṣṇu (identified by the emblems of discus and mace) is affirmed as the supreme divine presence whose greatness grounds dharmic understanding.
Kaṇva identifies the figures before him: he points out Nārada as a trustworthy witness to events and recognizes the other figure as Viṣṇu, marked by the cakra and gadā, linking the ongoing discussion to Viṣṇu’s acknowledged majesty.