Shloka 4

Devanagari script

यदि भागशतं पेशी कृता तेन महर्षिणा । न प्रजास्यति चेद्‌ भूय: सौबलेयी कथंचन,यदि महर्षिने उक्त मांसपिण्डके सौ भाग किये और यदि सुबलपुत्री गान्धारीने किसी प्रकार फिर गर्भ धारण या प्रसव नहीं किया, तो उस दु:शला नामवाली कनन्‍्याका जन्म किस प्रकार हुआ? ब्रह्मर्ष! यह सब यथार्थरूपसे मुझे बताइये। मुझे इस विषयमें कौतूहल हो रहा है

Transliteration

Janamejaya uvāca | yadi bhāgaśataṁ peśī kṛtā tena maharṣiṇā | na prajāsyati ced bhūyaḥ saubaleyī kathaṁcana ||

Translation

Janamejaya disse: “Se aquele grande sábio dividiu o bolo de carne em cem porções, e se Gāndhārī, filha de Subala, não podia de modo algum conceber ou dar à luz novamente, como então nasceu a jovem chamada Duḥśalā? Ó brahmarṣi, conta-me tudo exatamente como aconteceu; minha curiosidade sobre este assunto foi despertada.”

Word by Word

• {'yadi': 'if', 'bhāga-śatam': 'a hundred portions

• one hundred shares', 'peśī': 'a piece/portion of flesh

• fleshy mass', 'kṛtā': 'made

• prepared', 'tena': 'by him

• by that (person)', 'maharṣiṇā': 'by the great seer (instrumental singular)', 'na': 'not', 'prajāsyati': 'will give birth

• will produce offspring', 'cet': 'if (indeed)

• in case', 'bhūyaḥ': 'again

• once more', 'saubaleyī': 'the daughter of Subala

• Gandhārī', 'kathaṁcana': 'in any way

Speaker

जनमेजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Janamejaya
• Maharṣi (the sage; contextually Vyāsa)
• Saubaleyī (Gandhārī)
• Subala
• Duḥśalā

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights disciplined inquiry into apparent contradictions in sacred narrative—how extraordinary events (like unusual births) are to be understood through careful questioning and authoritative explanation rather than assumption.

What is happening in the narrative?

Janamejaya asks the sage to clarify a seeming inconsistency: after the flesh-mass was divided into a hundred parts to generate offspring, and if Gandhārī could not bear again, how could Duḥśalā (a daughter) have been born.