Shloka 9
अर्जुनस्य इन्द्रकीलगमनम् तथा शक्रसाक्षात्कारः
Arjuna’s journey to Indrakīla and encounter with Indra
वैशम्पायन उवाच कथयिष्यामि ते तात कथामेतां महात्मन: । दिव्यां पौरवशार्दूल महतीमद्भुतोपमाम्,वैशम्पायनजीने कहा--तात! पौरवश्रेष्ठ! महात्मा अर्जुनकी यह कथा दिव्य, अद्भुत और महत्त्वपूर्ण है; इसे मैं तुम्हें सुनाता हूँ
vaiśampāyana uvāca kathayiṣyāmi te tāta kathām etāṁ mahātmanaḥ | divyāṁ pauravaśārdūla mahatīm adbhutopamām ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Dear child, O tiger among the Pauravas, I shall recount to you this tale of the great-souled one—divine in nature, vast in significance, and wondrous beyond compare.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames the forthcoming account as “divine” and “wondrous,” signaling that the listener should approach it as an exemplary narrative: a life of a mahātmā is presented not merely for entertainment but to inspire dharmic aspiration, courage, and reverence for extraordinary virtue.
The narrator Vaiśampāyana begins a new segment by promising to tell the addressee (addressed affectionately as ‘tāta’ and honorifically as ‘pauravaśārdūla’) a great and marvelous story concerning a ‘great-souled’ figure—understood in this context as Arjuna—thus introducing the episode with heightened solemnity and wonder.