Shloka 2
आदि पर्व, अध्याय 67 — गान्धर्वविवाह-समयः
Duḥṣanta–Śakuntalā: Gandharva Marriage and Succession Condition
सर्वेषां चैव भूतानां सम्भवं भगवन्नहम् । श्रोतुमिच्छामि तत्त्वेन मानुषेषु महात्मनाम् । जन्म कर्म च भूतानामेतेषामनुपूर्वश:
sarveṣāṃ caiva bhūtānāṃ sambhavaṃ bhagavann aham | śrotum icchāmi tattvena mānuṣeṣu mahātmanām | janma karma ca bhūtānām eteṣām anupūrvaśaḥ ||
ਜਨਮੇਜਯ ਨੇ ਕਿਹਾ—ਭਗਵਨ! ਮੈਂ ਸਭ ਭੂਤਾਂ ਦੀ ਉਤਪੱਤੀ ਤੱਤ ਅਨੁਸਾਰ ਸੁਣਨਾ ਚਾਹੁੰਦਾ ਹਾਂ, ਖ਼ਾਸ ਕਰਕੇ ਮਨੁੱਖਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਮਹਾਤਮਿਆਂ ਦੀ। ਇਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਭੂਤਾਂ ਦੇ ਜਨਮ ਅਤੇ ਕਰਮ ਵੀ ਕ੍ਰਮਵਾਰ ਦੱਸੋ।
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharmic mode of learning: truthful inquiry (tattvena) into origins and into karma. It implies that understanding noble human lives requires seeing both their birth (lineage/conditions) and their actions (ethical choices), presented in orderly sequence (anupūrvaśaḥ).
King Janamejaya addresses a revered narrator and requests a systematic account of how beings arise, with special focus on the great-souled humans—asking to hear their births and deeds in proper chronological order.