Shloka 5

Devanagari script

सौतिरुवाच जनमेजयेन यत्‌ पृष्ट: शिष्यो व्यासस्य धीमतः । तत्‌ ते5हं कथयिष्यामि पौराणं शौनकोत्तम,सूतपुत्रने कहा--मुनिश्रेष्ठ शौनक! राजा जनमेजयने बुद्धिमान्‌ व्यासजीके शिष्य वैशम्पायनजीके सम्मुख जो प्रश्न उपस्थित किया था, उस पुराणप्रोक्त विषयका मैं तुम्हारे सामने वर्णन करता हूँ

Transliteration

sautir uvāca janamejayena yat pṛṣṭaḥ śiṣyo vyāsasya dhīmataḥ | tat te ’haṃ kathayiṣyāmi paurāṇaṃ śaunakottama ||

Translation

Dijo Sauti: «Oh el mejor de los Śaunaka, te relataré la antigua materia puránica que el rey Janamejaya preguntó y que respondió el sabio discípulo de Vyāsa. Escucha mientras expongo ese relato tradicional.»

Word by Word

• {'sautiḥ': 'Sauti

• Ugraśravas, son of the sūta (bard)', 'uvāca': 'said', 'janamejayena': 'by Janamejaya (instrumental: ‘by King Janamejaya’)', 'yat': 'which

• what', 'pṛṣṭaḥ': 'asked

• questioned', 'śiṣyaḥ': 'disciple', 'vyāsasya': 'of Vyāsa', 'dhīmataḥ': 'of the intelligent/wise one', 'tat': 'that', 'te': 'to you', 'aham': 'I', 'kathayiṣyāmi': 'I will narrate

• I will tell', 'paurāṇam': 'ancient traditional lore

• Purāṇic account', 'śaunakottama': 'O best of Śaunaka (vocative honorific)'}

Speaker

शौनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sauti (Ugraśravas)
• Shaunaka
• Janamejaya
• Vyasa
• Vaishampayana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes the authority of tradition through lineage: knowledge is validated and preserved when transmitted from a recognized teacher (Vyāsa) through a disciple (Vaiśampāyana) and faithfully retold by a narrator (Sauti). It models disciplined listening and responsible narration as ethical duties in conveying dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sauti addresses the sage Śaunaka and announces that he will recount the Purāṇic subject that King Janamejaya had earlier asked, which was answered in the presence of Vyāsa’s wise disciple Vaiśampāyana. This functions as a framing transition into the forthcoming discourse.