Shloka 8

पञ्चमहाभूतगुण-इन्द्रियनिग्रह-उपदेशः | Teaching on the Qualities of the Five Elements and Sense-Control

Devanagari script

वैशम्पायन उवाच युधिष्ठिरेणैवमुक्तो मार्कण्डेयो महामुनि: । धौन्धुमारमुपाख्यानं कथयामास भारत,वैशम्पायनजीने कहा--भारत! धर्मराज युधिष्ठिरके ऐसा कहनेपर महामुनि मार्कण्डेयने धुन्धुमारकी कथा प्रारम्भ की

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca: Yudhiṣṭhireṇaivam ukto Mārkaṇḍeyo mahāmuniḥ | Dhaundhumāram upākhyānaṃ kathayām āsa, Bhārata ||

Translation

Dijo Vaiśampāyana: Cuando el rey del dharma, Yudhiṣṭhira, hubo hablado así, el gran sabio Mārkaṇḍeya, interpelado de ese modo, comenzó a narrarte, oh Bhārata, el relato legendario de Dhaundhumāra.

Word by Word

वैशम्पायनःVaiśampāyana

उवाचsaid

युधिष्ठिरेणby Yudhiṣṭhira

एवम्thus

उक्तःaddressed / spoken to

मार्कण्डेयःMārkaṇḍeya

महामुनिःthe great sage

धौन्धुमारम्Dhaundhumāra (name/epithet)

उपाख्यानम्narrative, episode

कथयामासbegan to narrate / narrated

आमindeed (particle; also part of periphrastic perfect formation)

भारतO Bhārata

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Yudhiṣṭhira

Mārkaṇḍeya

Dhaundhumāra

Bhārata

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames dharma as something clarified through exemplary tradition: a righteous king’s inquiry is answered not merely with abstract rules, but with an instructive upākhyāna (illustrative legend) narrated by a realized sage.

What is happening in the narrative?

After Yudhiṣṭhira speaks, Mārkaṇḍeya responds by beginning the Dhaundhumāra episode; Vaiśampāyana, as the outer narrator, signals this transition into a new embedded story.