Shloka 7

Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 5 — Karmaphala-Nirdeśa and Phalāśruti (कर्मफलनिर्देशः फलश्रुतिश्च)

Devanagari script

सौतिर्वाच इत्युक्त: स तु विप्रर्षिरनुज्ञातो महात्मना | व्यासेन तस्य नृपतेराख्यातुमुपचक्रमे,सौति कहते हैं--राजा जनमेजयके इस प्रकार पूछनेपर महात्मा व्यासकी आज्ञा ले ब्रह्मर्षि वैशम्पायनने राजासे इस प्रकार कहना आरम्भ किया

Transliteration

sautir uvāca ity uktaḥ sa tu viprarṣir anuñjñāto mahātmanā | vyāsena tasya nṛpater ākhyātum upacakrame |

Translation

Sauti said: When King Janamejaya had thus spoken, the brahmarṣi Vaiśampāyana—having received permission from the great-souled Vyāsa—began to narrate the account to the king. The passage marks the proper transmission of sacred history: inquiry is met with authorized teaching, and narration proceeds under the sanction of the lineage of seers.

Word by Word

सौतिःSauti (Ugraśravas), the narrator

उवाचsaid

इतिthus

उक्तःhaving been spoken/said (so)

सःhe

तुbut/indeed

विप्रर्षिःthe brahmin-sage

अनुज्ञातःpermitted/authorized

महात्मनाby the great-souled one

व्यासेनby Vyāsa

तस्यof him/of that

नृपतेःof the king

आख्यातुम्to narrate/tell

उपचक्रमेbegan/undertook

Speaker

जनमेजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sauti (Ugraśravas)

Janamejaya

Vyāsa (Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana)

Vaiśampāyana

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Sacred history should be transmitted through authorized lineage: the listener asks respectfully, the teacher receives sanction from a higher authority (Vyāsa), and only then begins the narration—underscoring discipline, legitimacy, and responsibility in teaching.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sauti reports that after Janamejaya’s question, Vaiśampāyana—having obtained Vyāsa’s permission—starts telling the king the next portion of the Mahābhārata account, continuing the framed narration.