Mahabharata (Gita Press) 1.13.7 - Adi Parva, Adhyaya 13, Shloka 7

आस्तीक-उपाख्यान-प्रस्तावः | Introduction to the Āstīka Narrative

Devanagari script

कृष्णद्वैपायनप्रोक्तं नैमिषारण्यवासिषु | पूर्व प्रचोदित: सूत: पिता मे लोमहर्षण:

Transliteration

śaunaka uvāca | kṛṣṇadvaipāyanaproktaṃ naimiṣāraṇyavāsiṣu | pūrvaṃ pracoditaḥ sūtaḥ pitā me lomaharṣaṇaḥ |

Translation

Śaunaka berkata: “Sejarah suci ini telah diucapkan oleh Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana (Vyāsa) dan telah diceritakan di kalangan para penghuni Hutan Naimiṣa. Dahulu, atas dorongan para resi, ayahku Lomaharṣaṇa—si Sūta—menuturkan kisah yang sama ini sebagaimana telah dinyatakan oleh Vyāsa. Setelah mendengarnya dari mulut beliau, aku pun menuturkannya dengan setia.”

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Word by Word

• कृष्णद्वैपायन: by Krishna-Dvaipayana (Vyasa)
• कृष्णद्वैपायन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृष्णद्वैपायन
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• प्रोक्तम्: spoken/uttered
• प्रोक्तम्: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-वच्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• नैमिषारण्यवासिषु: among the residents of Naimisha forest
• नैमिषारण्यवासिषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: नैमिषारण्यवासिन्
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Plural

• पूर्वम्: formerly/earlier
• पूर्वम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पूर्व

• प्रचोदितः: prompted/urged
• प्रचोदितः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-चुद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• सूतः: the Suta (bard)
• सूतः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सूत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• पिता: father
• पिता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• मे: of me / my
• मे: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: Genitive, Singular

• लोमहर्षणः: Lomaharshana
• लोमहर्षणः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोमहर्षण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

शौनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śaunaka
• Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana (Vyāsa)
• Naimiṣāraṇya
• Sūta
• Lomaharṣaṇa (Romaharṣaṇa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes the ethical importance of faithful transmission: sacred history gains authority through a reliable lineage (Vyāsa → Lomaharṣaṇa → Ugraśravas), and the narrator’s duty is to preserve and convey what was heard without distortion.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śaunaka frames the Mahābhārata’s recitation context: in Naimiṣāraṇya, sages requested the Sūta Lomaharṣaṇa to narrate the history as spoken by Vyāsa; Ugraśravas (his son) now recounts it in the same spirit of accuracy.