Mahabharata 3.38.4 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 38, Shloka 4

अर्जुनस्य इन्द्रकीलगमनम् तथा शक्रसाक्षात्कारः

Arjuna’s journey to Indrakīla and encounter with Indra

Devanagari script

एतदिच्छाम्यहं श्रीतुं त्वत्प्रसादाद्‌ द्विजोत्तम | त्वं हि सर्वज्ञ दिव्यं च मानुषं चैव वेत्थ ह

Transliteration

etad icchāmy ahaṃ śrotuṃ tvatprasādād dvijottama | tvaṃ hi sarvajña divyaṃ ca mānuṣaṃ caiva vettha ha ||

Translation

Janamejaya disse: “Ó melhor dos brâmanes, por tua graciosa benevolência desejo ouvir isto por completo. Pois és onisciente: conheces tanto o âmbito divino quanto o curso dos acontecimentos humanos.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'etad', 'definition': 'this (matter), this account'}, {'term': 'icchāmi', 'definition': 'I desire, I wish'}, {'term': 'ahaṃ', 'definition': 'I'}, {'term': 'śrotum', 'definition': 'to hear (infinitive of √śru)'}, {'term': 'tvat-prasādāt', 'definition': 'by your favor/grace'}, {'term': 'dvijottama', 'definition': 'best of the twice-born

• foremost Brahmin'}, {'term': 'sarvajña', 'definition': 'all-knowing, omniscient'}, {'term': 'divyam', 'definition': 'divine, celestial'}, {'term': 'mānuṣam', 'definition': 'human, pertaining to mankind'}, {'term': 'caiva', 'definition': 'and indeed, and also'}, {'term': 'vettha', 'definition': 'you know (2nd person singular perfect/present sense of √vid)'}, {'term': 'ha', 'definition': 'indeed, surely (emphatic particle)'}]

Speaker

जनमेजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Janamejaya
• Dvijottama (addressed Brahmin sage)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the proper attitude of a listener: humility, reverence, and reliance on the teacher’s grace. It also affirms that true wisdom integrates both the divine dimension (daiva) and the human world (mānuṣa), suggesting that ethical understanding arises from seeing how higher principles and human actions interrelate.

What is happening in the narrative?

King Janamejaya addresses a revered Brahmin narrator and requests to hear the account. He praises the sage as all-knowing, capable of explaining both celestial matters and human events, thereby setting the stage for the forthcoming narration in the Vana Parva.