Shloka 1
The Greatness of Hari’s Janmāṣṭamī (Jayantī) Vow
शौनक उवाच । कृष्णजन्माष्टमी सूत तस्या माहात्म्यमुत्तमम् । कथयस्व महाप्राज्ञ चोद्धरस्व महार्णवात्
śaunaka uvāca | kṛṣṇajanmāṣṭamī sūta tasyā māhātmyamuttamam | kathayasva mahāprājña coddharasva mahārṇavāt
シャウナカは言った。「スータよ、クリシュナのジャンマーシュタミーの最上の功徳を語ってください。大いなる賢者よ、それを説き明かし、私を広大な海（疑いと世の有の海）から渡らせてください。」
Śaunaka (addressing Sūta)
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
Type: forest
Sandhi Resolution Notes: माहात्म्यमुत्तमम् = माहात्म्यम् + उत्तमम्; चोद्धरस्व = च + उद्धरस्व
FAQs
Śaunaka asks Sūta to narrate the highest sacred significance (māhātmya) of Kṛṣṇa’s Janmāṣṭamī and to guide him across the “great ocean,” i.e., ignorance, doubt, or saṃsāra.
It is a conventional spiritual metaphor: the teacher’s narration of dharma and devotion is portrayed as a means to cross the ocean of worldly bondage, confusion, and suffering.
By foregrounding Janmāṣṭamī-māhātmya, it frames the chapter as a Vaiṣṇava devotional teaching focused on Kṛṣṇa’s birth observance (vrata/festival) and its salvific merit.