Shloka 45
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 5 — Karmaphala-Nirdeśa and Phalāśruti (कर्मफलनिर्देशः फलश्रुतिश्च)
भरतानां महज्जन्म तस्माद् भारतमुच्यते । महत्त्वाद् भारवत्त्वाच्च महाभारतमुच्यते । निरुक्तमस्य यो वेद सर्वपापै: प्रमुच्यते,इस ग्रन्थमें भरतवंशियोंके महान् जन्मकर्मका वर्णन है, इसलिये इसे महाभारत कहते हैं। महान् और भारी होनेके कारण भी इसका नाम महाभारत हुआ है। जो महाभारतकी इस व्युत्पत्तिको जानता और समझता है वह समस्त पापोंसे मुक्ता हो जाता है
bharatānāṃ mahaj janma tasmād bhāratam ucyate | mahattvād bhāravattvāc ca mahābhāratam ucyate | niruktam asya yo veda sarvapāpaiḥ pramucyate |
Vaiśampāyana said: “Because it recounts the great birth and deeds of the descendants of Bharata, it is called the Bhārata. And because it is both vast in greatness and weighty in substance, it is called the Mahābhārata. Whoever truly knows this etymological sense of the work is released from all sins.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the epic’s very name encodes its purpose and authority: it narrates the exalted lineage and deeds of the Bharatas, and it is ‘great’ and ‘weighty’ in meaning. Understanding this (not merely reciting it) is presented as spiritually purifying, freeing one from sin.
In Vaiśampāyana’s narration, a brief meta-explanation is given about the title of the text itself—why it is called Bhārata and Mahābhārata—and the religious merit attributed to knowing this derivation.