Shloka 20

Devanagari script

ततस्तामनवद्याड़ीं ग्राहयामास स द्विज: । मन्त्रग्रामं तदा राजन्नथर्वशिरसि श्रुतम्‌,राजन! तब ब्राह्मणने निर्दोष अंगोंवाली कुन्तीको उस मन्त्रसमूहका उपदेश दिया जो अथर्ववेदीय उपनिषदमें प्रसिद्ध है

Transliteration

tatas tām anavadyāṅgīṃ grāhayāmāsa sa dvijaḥ | mantragrāmaṃ tadā rājan atharvaśirasi śrutam ||

Translation

അതിനുശേഷം, രാജാവേ! ആ ദ്വിജൻ കുറ്റമറ്റ അവയവങ്ങളുള്ള കുന്തിയെ, അഥർവശിരസ്സിൽ ശ്രുതമായ മന്ത്രസമൂഹം പഠിപ്പിച്ചു ഗ്രഹിപ്പിച്ചു.

Word by Word

ततःthen, thereafter

ताम्her

अनवद्याङ्गीम्having faultless limbs (blameless-bodied)

ग्राहयामासcaused (her) to take/learn; instructed

सःhe

द्विजःthe brahmin (twice-born)

मन्त्रग्रामम्a collection of mantras

तदाat that time

राजन्O king

अथर्वशिरसिin the Atharvaśiras (Upaniṣad)

श्रुतम्heard; learned (as tradition)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Kuntī

dvija (a Brahmin teacher)

Atharvaśiras

mantragrāma (collection of mantras)

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?

Powerful knowledge (mantras) should be transmitted only through a qualified teacher to a worthy recipient, with emphasis on purity, discipline, and ethical restraint; its authority is grounded in śruti (here linked to Atharvaśiras).

What is happening in the narrative?

A Brahmin teaches Kuntī a set of mantras associated with Atharvaśiras, formally initiating her into a potent body of sacred formulas—an event that later becomes consequential in her life story.