Shloka 113
Nāga-āyatana-darśana-pratīkṣā — The Brāhmaṇa’s Request and Waiting on the Gomatī
आमन्थ्य मतिमन्थेन ज्ञानोदधिमनुत्तमम् । एक लाख श्लोकोंसे युक्त विस्तृत महाभारत इतिहाससे निकालकर जो आपने यह सारभूत कथा सुनायी है
āmanthya matimanthena jñānābdhim anuttamam | eka-lākha-ślokaiḥ yuktaṃ vistṛtaṃ mahābhārata-itihāsāt nikālya yo bhavatā eṣā sāra-bhūtā kathā śrāvitā, sā buddhi-rūpa-mathanīyā jñānasya uttama-samudraṃ manthayitvā nirgata-amṛta-samā bhavati |
Janamejaya dit : « En barattant l’océan incomparable de la connaissance avec le bâton du discernement, tu as tiré et récité ce récit essentiel du vaste Mahābhārata, composé de cent mille ślokas. Ce condensé est tel un nectar obtenu en barattant la mer suprême de la sagesse avec la louche de l’intelligence. »
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
True understanding comes from discerning extraction: one should churn vast learning with buddhi (intellect) to obtain sāra (essence). The verse praises condensed, ethically meaningful instruction as ‘amṛta’—life-giving wisdom rather than mere quantity of information.
King Janamejaya addresses the narrator/teacher, commending him for drawing an essential story from the enormous Mahābhārata of one hundred thousand verses. He uses the metaphor of churning the ocean to say that the teacher has produced nectar-like wisdom by intellectual discernment.