Shloka 86

अनुक्रमणिकाध्यायः (Anukramaṇikā Adhyāya) — Invocation, Narrator Frame, and Textual Scope

Devanagari script

पुराणपूर्णचन्द्रेण श्रुतिज्योत्स्ना: प्रकाशिता: । नृबुद्धिकेरवाणां च कृतमेतत्‌ प्रकाशनम्‌,यह भारत-पुराण पूर्ण चन्द्रमाके समान है, जिससे श्रुतियोंकी चाँदनी छिटकती है और मनुष्योंकी बुद्धिरूपी कुमुदिनी सदाके लिये खिल जाती है

Transliteration

purāṇa-pūrṇa-candreṇa śruti-jyotsnāḥ prakāśitāḥ | nṛ-buddhi-keravāṇāṃ ca kṛtam etat prakāśanam ||

Translation

This Bhārata, like the full moon of ancient lore, sheds the moonlight of the Vedas; by its radiance the lotus-like intellects of human beings are made to bloom—this work has been composed as an illumination for them.

Word by Word

• {'purāṇa': 'ancient lore

• traditional sacred history', 'pūrṇa-candra': 'full moon', 'purāṇa-pūrṇa-candreṇa': 'by/with the full moon of ancient lore (instrumental sense)', 'śruti': 'revealed scripture

• the Vedas', 'jyotsnā': 'moonlight', 'śruti-jyotsnāḥ': 'the moonlight of śruti (Vedic revelation)', 'prakāśitāḥ': 'are illuminated

• are made manifest', 'nṛ': 'human

• man', 'buddhi': 'intellect

• discernment', 'kerava': 'water-lily/lotus (often used for the night-blooming kumuda imagery)', 'nṛ-buddhi-keravāṇām': 'of the lotus-like intellects of humans', 'ca': 'and', 'kṛtam': 'made

• accomplished', 'etat': 'this', 'prakāśanam': 'illumination

Characters & Entities

• Bhārata (Mahābhārata)
• Śruti (Vedas)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents the Mahābhārata as a clarifying, ethical and spiritual light: grounded in śruti (Vedic revelation), it is meant to awaken and refine human understanding, enabling discernment of dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the opening of the Ādi Parva, the text is being eulogized: the Bhārata is compared to a full moon whose Vedic moonlight illuminates the world, causing human intellect to blossom—stating the epic’s purpose as instruction and illumination.