Shloka 8

Devanagari script

नैतत्कारणमल्पं हि भविष्यति जनार्दन । तदद्य शंस मे पृष्ट: सत्यं सत्यवतां वर,'परंतु जनार्दन! आपको जो इतनी खुशी हो रही है उसका कोई छोटा-मोटा कारण न होगा। वही मैं आपसे पूछता हूँ। सत्यवक्ताओंमें श्रेष्ठ प्रभो! आप इसका मुझे यथार्थ कारण बताइये

Transliteration

naitat kāraṇam alpaṃ hi bhaviṣyati janārdana | tad adya śaṃsa me pṛṣṭaḥ satyaṃ satyavatāṃ vara ||

Translation

Ô Janārdana, une telle joie ne saurait naître d’une cause insignifiante. Ainsi, puisque je t’interroge aujourd’hui, dis-moi la vérité—ô le meilleur parmi ceux qui disent vrai—quelle en est la raison véritable.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'naitat', 'meaning': 'not this

• this is not'}, {'term': 'kāraṇam', 'meaning': 'cause, reason'}, {'term': 'alpam', 'meaning': 'small, slight, insignificant'}, {'term': 'hi', 'meaning': 'indeed, surely (emphatic particle)'}, {'term': 'bhaviṣyati', 'meaning': 'will be, will prove to be'}, {'term': 'janārdana', 'meaning': "Janārdana (epithet of Kṛṣṇa

• 'afflicter of foes/people')"}, {'term': 'tad', 'meaning': 'therefore

• that (referring to the matter at hand)'}, {'term': 'adya', 'meaning': 'today, now'}, {'term': 'śaṃsa', 'meaning': 'tell, declare, relate'}, {'term': 'me', 'meaning': 'to me, for me'}, {'term': 'pṛṣṭaḥ', 'meaning': 'asked, questioned'}, {'term': 'satyam', 'meaning': 'truthfully

• the truth'}, {'term': 'satyavatām vara', 'meaning': 'best of the truthful (an honorific address)'}]

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Janārdana (Kṛṣṇa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds satya (truthfulness) as an ethical ideal: when a significant emotional shift is observed, one should inquire directly and request a truthful explanation, especially from one regarded as committed to truth.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker observes that Janārdana (Kṛṣṇa) appears unusually pleased and concludes it must have a serious cause; he therefore asks Kṛṣṇa to disclose the real reason truthfully.