Shloka 15
कृतयुगवर्णनम् तथा राजधर्मोपदेशः
Kṛtayuga Description and Instruction on Royal Dharma
एतत् प्रत्यक्षत: सर्व पूर्व वृत्तं द्विजोत्तम । तस्मादिच्छाम्यहं श्रोतुं सर्वहेत्वात्मिकां कथाम्,द्विजोत्तम! यह सारा पुरातन इतिहास आपका प्रत्यक्ष देखा हुआ है। इसलिये मैं आपके मुखसे सबके हेतुभूत कालका निरूपण करनेवाली कथा सुनना चाहता हूँ
etat pratyakṣataḥ sarvaṃ pūrva-vṛttaṃ dvijottama | tasmād icchāmy ahaṃ śrotuṃ sarva-hetv-ātmikāṃ kathām ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “O best of the twice-born sages, all this ancient account is known to you by direct experience. Therefore I wish to hear from your mouth the narrative that explains the underlying causes—the time and conditions that became the reasons for everything.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes responsible inquiry: when a trustworthy witness has direct knowledge, one should seek not only the events but also their causes—understanding how time, conditions, and motives generate outcomes. This supports ethical reflection in itihāsa: actions and circumstances have consequences that can be traced and learned from.
Vaiśaṃpāyana addresses a revered Brahmin sage as “dvijottama,” acknowledging that the sage has firsthand knowledge of an ancient sequence of events. He then requests a fuller account—specifically a narrative that lays out the causal background (the reasons and conditions) behind what occurred.