Shloka 1
Adhyāya 60: Devagaṇa–Ṛṣi–Prajāpatīnāṃ Sambhavaḥ
Origins of Divine Classes, Sages, and Progenitors
षष्टितमो< ध्याय: जनमेजयके यज्ञमें व्यासमजीका आगमन, सत्कार तथा राजाकी प्रार्थनासे व्यासजीका वैशम्पायनजीसे महाभारत- कथा सुनानेके लिये कहना सौतिरुवाच श्र॒त्वा तु सर्पसत्राय दीक्षितं जनमेजयम् । अभ्यगच्छदृषिर्विद्वान् कृष्णद्वैपायनस्तदा,उग्रश्रवाजी कहते हैं--शौनक! जब विद्वान महर्षि श्रीकृष्णद्वैधयायनने यह सुना कि राजा जनमेजय सर्पयज्ञकी दीक्षा ले चुके हैं, तब वे वहाँ आये
śaunaka uvāca | śrutvā tu sarpasatrāya dīkṣitaṃ janamejayam | abhyagacchad ṛṣir vidvān kṛṣṇadvaipāyanas tadā ||
Śaunaka said: When the wise sage Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana (Vyāsa) heard that King Janamejaya had been consecrated for the serpent-sacrifice, he came there at once. The verse frames Vyāsa’s arrival as a morally weighty intervention: a knower of dharma approaches a royal rite driven by intense purpose, setting the stage for counsel and the transmission of the Mahābhārata narrative as a means to guide action through understanding.
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler’s great ritual acts should be met with the guidance of the wise: the arrival of Vyāsa signals that knowledge of dharma and the larger story of human action and consequence must inform powerful, emotionally charged undertakings.
Janamejaya has taken dīkṣā for the sarpasatra. Hearing this, the sage Vyāsa comes to the sacrificial venue, initiating the sequence that leads to the Mahābhārata being recounted in that setting.