Shloka 87

Devanagari script

७ दक्षिण भारतीय पाठसे लिये गये छलोक-- ८२ (४) ५

Transliteration

sapta dakṣiṇa-bhāratīya-pāṭhase līye gaye ślokāḥ — 82 (4) 5

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “Seven verses have been taken from the Southern (Dakṣiṇa) recension—(noted here as) 82 (4) 5.” This is an editorial notice indicating a textual variant or insertion from the Southern manuscript tradition, rather than a narrative utterance advancing the story.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'sapta (७)', 'definition': 'seven'}, {'term': 'dakṣiṇa', 'definition': 'southern

• pertaining to the South'}, {'term': 'bhāratīya', 'definition': 'Indian

• here, ‘Southern Indian’ (as a recension/tradition)'}, {'term': 'pāṭha', 'definition': 'reading

• manuscript tradition'}, {'term': 'līye gaye', 'definition': 'taken

• adopted (editorial selection)'}, {'term': 'śloka', 'definition': 'verse

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Dakṣiṇa (Southern) recension/pāṭha

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This line is not a moral instruction but a textual marker: it highlights that the Mahābhārata exists in multiple manuscript traditions, and editors sometimes note when verses are adopted from a particular recension (here, the Southern/Dakṣiṇa tradition).

What is happening in the narrative?

No narrative action occurs here. It functions as an editorial/recensional annotation within the printed edition, indicating that a set of verses is sourced from the Southern reading tradition.