Shloka 4

Virāṭanagara-nivāsa-nirṇaya

Decision to Reside in Virāṭa’s City

Devanagari script

वैशम्पायन उवाच यथा विराटनगरे तव पूर्वपितामहा: । अज्ञातवासमुषितास्तच्छूणुष्व नराधिप,वैशम्पायनजीने कहा--राजन! तुम्हारे प्रपितामहोंने विराटनगरमें जिस प्रकार अज्ञातवासके दिन पूरे किये थे, वह बताता हूँ; सुनो

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | yathā virāṭanagare tava pūrvapitāmahāḥ | ajñātavāsam uṣitās tac chṛṇuṣva narādhipa ||

Translation

വൈശമ്പായനൻ പറഞ്ഞു—“നരാധിപനേ! കേൾക്കുക; നിന്റെ പൂർവ്വികർ വിരാടനഗരത്തിൽ അജ്ഞാതവാസകാലം എങ്ങനെ കഴിച്ചു എന്നത് ഞാൻ പറയുന്നു.”

Word by Word

वैशम्पायनःVaishampayana

उवाचsaid

यथाas, in the manner that

विराटनगरॆin the city of Virata

तवof you, your

पूर्वपितामहाःthe forefathers (great-grandfathers/ancestors)

अज्ञातवासम्the incognito residence (period of concealment)

उषिताःhaving dwelt, having stayed

तत्that (account/that matter)

शृणुष्वlisten

नराधिपO king (lord of men)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Virāṭa (place/kingdom)

Virāṭanagara (city of Virāṭa)

Narādhipa (the king addressed, i.e., Janamejaya in the frame narrative)

Pūrvapitāmahāḥ (ancestors/forefathers; contextually the Pāṇḍavas)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even under pressure and vulnerability, one should uphold dharma through self-control, discretion, and faithful observance of vows—here, the vow of living incognito without revealing one’s identity.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator Vaiśampāyana addresses the king and introduces the account of how the Pāṇḍavas (referred to as the listener’s forefathers) completed their period of concealment in Virāṭa’s city, setting up the events of the Virāṭa Parva.