Shloka 39

Duḥṣanta at Kaṇva-Āśrama; Śakuntalā’s Reception and Origin Prelude (दुःषन्तस्य कण्वाश्रमागमनम्)

Devanagari script

एतेषां यदपत्यं तु न शक्‍्यं तदशेषत: । प्रसंख्यातुं महीपाल गुणभूतमनन्तकम्‌,महीपाल! इनकी जो संतानें हैं, उन सबकी पूर्णरूपसे गणना नहीं की जा सकती; क्योंकि वे सब अनन्त गुने हैं। ताक्ष्य, अरिष्टनेमि, गरुड, अरुण, आरुणि तथा वारुणि--ये विनताके पुत्र कहे गये हैं

Transliteration

eteṣāṁ yad apatyaṁ tu na śakyaṁ tad aśeṣataḥ | prasaṅkhyātuṁ mahīpāla guṇabhūtam anantakam ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana dit : «Ô roi, la descendance de ceux-ci ne peut être dénombrée en entier ; il est impossible de la compter jusqu’au bout, tant elle est sans fin.»

Word by Word

एतेषाम्of these

यत्which/that (offspring)

अपत्यम्offspring/progeny

तुbut/indeed

नnot

शक्यम्possible

तत्that

अशेषतःcompletely/without remainder

प्रसंख्यातुम्to enumerate/count

महीपालO king (protector of the earth)

गुणभूतम्having become manifold/multiplied (lit. become a multiple)

अनन्तकम्endless/innumerable

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

mahīpāla (the king, i.e., Janamejaya as addressee)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the vastness of creation and lineage: some genealogies are so expansive that they exceed complete human enumeration, reminding the listener of the epic’s cosmic scale and the limits of exhaustive cataloguing.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, narrating to the king, pauses in a genealogical account to state that the descendants of the beings under discussion are innumerable, so a complete listing is not feasible.