Shloka 19

Devanagari script

सहस़पुत्रा: पुरुषा दशवर्षशतायुष:

Transliteration

sahasraputrāḥ puruṣā daśavarṣaśatāyuṣaḥ

Translation

Nārada said: “There are men who have a thousand sons, and whose lifespan extends to a hundred decades (i.e., a thousand years).” The statement underscores the epic’s recurring contrast between extraordinary worldly prosperity (offspring and longevity) and the deeper question of how such gifts are to be used in alignment with dharma.

Word by Word

• सहस्रपुत्राः: having a thousand sons
• सहस्रपुत्राः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सहस्रपुत्र
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• पुरुषाः: men
• पुरुषाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरुष
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• दशवर्षशतायुषः: having a lifespan of a thousand years (ten hundred years)
• दशवर्षशतायुषः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दशवर्षशतायुस्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Nārada

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights extreme worldly success—many sons and vast longevity—inviting reflection on the Mahābhārata’s ethical concern: prosperity is not itself the highest good unless guided by dharma and right conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada is speaking and makes a general statement about certain men possessing extraordinary progeny and lifespan, functioning as a rhetorical setup for a broader moral or illustrative point in the surrounding passage.