Shloka 17

अध्याय ३५ — वासुकिचिन्ता-शमनम्

Vāsuki’s Anxiety and Brahmā’s Confirmation

Devanagari script

एते प्राधान्यतो नागा: कीर्तिता द्विजसत्तम । बहुत्वान्नामधेयानामितरे नानुकीर्तिता:,द्विजश्रेष्ठ! ये मुख्य-मुख्य नाग यहाँ बताये गये हैं। सर्पोंकी संख्या अधिक होनेसे उनके नाम भी बहुत हैं। अत: अन्य अप्रधान नागोंके नाम यहाँ नहीं कहे गये हैं

Transliteration

ete prādhānyato nāgāḥ kīrtitā dvijasattama | bahutvān nāmadheyānām itare nānukīrtitāḥ ||

Translation

शौनक म्हणाले—हे द्विजश्रेष्ठ! येथे प्रमुखत्वामुळे हेच नाग सांगितले आहेत. सर्पकुल अत्यंत बहुसंख्य असून नावेही पुष्कळ आहेत; म्हणून इतर अप्रधान नागांची नावे येथे सांगितली नाहीत.

Word by Word

एतेthese

प्राधान्यतःchiefly, by way of prominence

नागाःNāgas (serpents)

कीर्तिताःhave been mentioned/celebrated

द्विजसत्तमO best of the twice-born

बहुत्वात्because of the great number

नामधेयानाम्of names/appellations

इतरेthe others (remaining ones)

नnot

अनुकीर्तिताःhave not been recounted/mentioned in detail

Speaker

शौनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śaunaka

Nāgas

dvija (Brahmin sages)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a principle of responsible narration: when a subject is vast, a text may present only the principal representatives, acknowledging the limits of exhaustive listing while preserving the main line of tradition.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śaunaka addresses a learned listener, explaining that only the foremost Nāgas have been named so far; the rest are omitted because their numbers and names are too many for full enumeration at this point.