Shloka 9

Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 5 — Karmaphala-Nirdeśa and Phalāśruti (कर्मफलनिर्देशः फलश्रुतिश्च)

Devanagari script

शृणु गुह्मामिदं राजन्‌ देवानां भरतर्षभ । यदुवाच महातेजा दिव्यचक्षु: प्रतापवान्‌

Transliteration

śṛṇu guhyam idaṃ rājan devānāṃ bharatarṣabha | yad uvāca mahātejā divyacakṣuḥ pratāpavān ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana berkata: “Wahai Raja, lembu jantan di antara keturunan Bharata, dengarlah rahsia yang tersembunyi tentang para dewa ini. Aku akan menyampaikan apa yang telah dinyatakan oleh resi Vyāsa—yang bermata ilahi, bercahaya wibawa dan perkasa—mengenai perkara ini.”

Word by Word

• {'śṛṇu': 'hear

• listen (imperative)', 'guhyam': 'secret

• esoteric matter', 'idam': 'this', 'rājan': 'O king (vocative)', 'devānām': 'of the gods

• pertaining to the deities', 'bharatarṣabha': 'bull of the Bharatas

• best among Bharata lineage (honorific epithet)', 'yat': 'that which

• what', 'uvāca': 'said

• spoke', 'mahātejāḥ': 'of great splendor/energy

• highly radiant', 'divyacakṣuḥ': 'one with divine sight

• seer with supernatural vision', 'pratāpavān': 'powerful

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Janamejaya
• Vyāsa
• Devas (gods)
• Bharata lineage (Bharatarṣabha epithet)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames the next instruction as a ‘guhya’ (secret) doctrine about the gods, emphasizing that it comes from Vyāsa, a seer with divine vision; ethically, it signals that the coming account should be received with reverence and discernment because it concerns higher, divine order and its implications for dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, narrating to King Janamejaya, prepares to disclose an esoteric point connected with the gods, explicitly grounding his narration in Vyāsa’s authoritative statement and urging the king to listen attentively.