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
ശൗനകൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഹേ സൂതാ! ശ്രീകൃഷ്ണ ജന്മാഷ്ടമിയുടെ പരമ മഹാത്മ്യം പറയുക. ഹേ മഹാപ്രാജ്ഞാ! അത് വിവരിച്ച് എന്നെ ഈ മഹാസമുദ്രത്തിൽ നിന്ന് കടത്തിവിടുക।
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.