Shloka 4

कुरुसभायां केशवागमन-सत्कारविधानम् / Preparations to Honor Keśava at the Kuru Court

Devanagari script

वैशम्पायन उवाच तस्य प्रयाणे यान्यासन्‌ निमित्तानि महात्मन: । तानि मे शृणु सर्वाणि दैवान्यौत्पातिकानि च

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | tasya prayāṇe yāny āsan nimittāni mahātmanaḥ | tāni me śṛṇu sarvāṇi daivāny autpātikāni ca ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “O king, as that great-souled one set out on his journey, whatever omens appeared—both auspicious signs of divine origin and portents foretelling calamity—hear from me a full account of them all.”

Word by Word

• {'vaiśampāyana uvāca': 'Vaiśampāyana said', 'tasya': 'of him

• his', 'prayāṇe': 'at the departure

• on setting out', 'yāni': 'which

• whatever (neuter plural)', 'āsan': 'were

• occurred', 'nimittāni': 'omens

• indications', 'mahātmanaḥ': 'of the great-souled one (honorific epithet)', 'tāni': 'those', 'me': 'from me

• to me (contextually: ‘from me, hear’)', 'śṛṇu': 'hear

• listen', 'sarvāṇi': 'all (of them)', 'daivāni': 'divine

• of heavenly origin (often auspicious or fated)', 'autpātikāni': 'portentous

• arising from utpāta (prodigies/inauspicious phenomena)', 'ca': 'and'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• King (rājan, the listener)
• the great-souled one (mahātmā; contextually Śrī Kṛṣṇa in this passage’s framing)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the epic’s moral-narrative logic that major dharmic and political turning points are accompanied by ‘nimitta’—signs that invite reflection on destiny, responsibility, and the consequences of collective choices.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana addresses the king and introduces a forthcoming description of the omens seen at the time of the great person’s departure, distinguishing between divine signs (daiva) and ominous prodigies (autpātika).