Shloka 73
अनुक्रमणिकाध्यायः (Anukramaṇikā Adhyāya) — Invocation, Narrator Frame, and Textual Scope
अस्य काव्यस्य कवयो न समर्था विशेषणे । विशेषणे गृहस्थस्य शेषास्त्रय इवाश्रमा:
asya kāvyasya kavayo na samarthā viśeṣaṇe | viśeṣaṇe gṛhasthasya śeṣās traya ivāśramāḥ ||
The poets are not capable of fully describing the excellence of this epic. In particular, the greatness of the householder’s stage of life is beyond adequate praise—for the other three āśramas are, as it were, dependent upon it.
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts the centrality of gṛhastha-dharma: the householder stage sustains the other āśramas through support, hospitality, and social responsibility, and its excellence is difficult even for poets to adequately praise.
In the opening of the Ādi Parva, the text offers a eulogistic reflection on the Mahābhārata and on dharma; here it highlights the greatness of the householder āśrama, presenting it as the practical foundation upon which the other three life-stages depend.