Shloka 15

कृतयुगवर्णनम् तथा राजधर्मोपदेशः

Kṛtayuga Description and Instruction on Royal Dharma

Devanagari script

एतत्‌ प्रत्यक्षत: सर्व पूर्व वृत्तं द्विजोत्तम । तस्मादिच्छाम्यहं श्रोतुं सर्वहेत्वात्मिकां कथाम्‌,द्विजोत्तम! यह सारा पुरातन इतिहास आपका प्रत्यक्ष देखा हुआ है। इसलिये मैं आपके मुखसे सबके हेतुभूत कालका निरूपण करनेवाली कथा सुनना चाहता हूँ

Transliteration

etat pratyakṣataḥ sarvaṃ pūrva-vṛttaṃ dvijottama | tasmād icchāmy ahaṃ śrotuṃ sarva-hetv-ātmikāṃ kathām ||

Translation

ହେ ଦ୍ୱିଜୋତ୍ତମ! ଏହି ସମସ୍ତ ପୁରାତନ ବୃତ୍ତାନ୍ତ ଆପଣଙ୍କୁ ପ୍ରତ୍ୟକ୍ଷ ଅନୁଭବରେ ଜଣା। ତେଣୁ ସମସ୍ତଙ୍କର କାରଣ—କାଳ ଓ ପରିସ୍ଥିତି—ବ୍ୟାଖ୍ୟା କରୁଥିବା କଥା ଆପଣଙ୍କ ମୁଖରୁ ଶୁଣିବାକୁ ମୁଁ ଇଚ୍ଛା କରୁଛି।

Word by Word

• {'etat': 'this', 'pratyakṣataḥ': 'directly

• by firsthand perception', 'sarvam': 'all

• entirely', 'pūrva-vṛttam': 'what happened before

• ancient occurrence/account', 'dvijottama': 'best of the twice-born (honorific for a Brahmin sage)', 'tasmāt': 'therefore

• for that reason', 'icchāmi': 'I desire

• I wish', 'aham': 'I', 'śrotum': 'to hear', 'sarva-hetu-ātmikām': 'having the nature of (explaining) all causes

• causal in essence', 'kathām': 'story

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• dvijottama (addressed sage)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes responsible inquiry: when a trustworthy witness has direct knowledge, one should seek not only the events but also their causes—understanding how time, conditions, and motives generate outcomes. This supports ethical reflection in itihāsa: actions and circumstances have consequences that can be traced and learned from.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana addresses a revered Brahmin sage as “dvijottama,” acknowledging that the sage has firsthand knowledge of an ancient sequence of events. He then requests a fuller account—specifically a narrative that lays out the causal background (the reasons and conditions) behind what occurred.