Shloka 3

Devanagari script

तिर्यग्योनिगतं रूपं कथं धारितवान्‌ प्रभु: । केन कार्यनिसर्गेण तमाख्याहि महाबल,महाबली पितामह! सम्पूर्ण जगतके प्रभु होकर भी इन्होंने किस निमित्तसे तिर्यग्योनिमें जन्म ग्रहण किया; यह मुझे बताइये

Transliteration

Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: tiryagyonigataṃ rūpaṃ kathaṃ dhāritavān prabhuḥ | kena kāryanisargeṇa tam ākhyāhi mahābala, mahābalī pitāmaha ||

Translation

ユディシュティラは言った。「主は、いかにして獣胎に入る姿をお取りになったのですか。いかなる目的と、いかなる因縁の必然によって、下位の種のうちに誕生されたのですか。大力の御方よ――大いなる力を備えた大祖父よ――どうかこのことをお語りください。」

Word by Word

तिर्यक्obliquely; (as qualifier) in the animal realm

योनि-गतंgone into a womb/species (i.e., born in a species)

रूपंform

कथंhow?

धारितवान्has borne/assumed

प्रभुःthe Lord/master

केनby what?; for what reason?

कार्य-निसर्गेणby what purpose/necessity (lit. by the nature of the task/purpose)

तम्that (matter)/him

आख्याहिtell; explain

महाबलO great-strong one

महाबलीO very mighty one

पितामहO grandsire

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Bhīṣma (Pitāmaha)

Prabhu (the Lord)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a dharmic inquiry into divine action: even the supreme Lord may assume seemingly lowly embodiments, and such descent is to be understood through purpose (kārya) and causal order (nisarga), not through ordinary limitation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva dialogue, Yudhiṣṭhira questions Bhīṣma about a Lordly figure who took birth in an animal womb, asking what reason or mission required such an embodiment.