Shloka 6

Parāśara’s Birth, Vasiṣṭha as Guardian, and the Bhṛgu–Kṣatriya Violence Etiology (Ādi-parva 169)

Devanagari script

व्यास उवाच आसीत्‌ तपोवने काचिदृषे: कन्या महात्मन: । विलग्नमध्या सुश्रोणी सुभ्रू: सर्वगुणान्विता,व्यासजीने कहा--पहलेकी बात है, तपोवनमें किसी महात्मा ऋषिकी कोई कन्या रहती थी, जिसकी कटि कृश तथा नितम्ब और भौंहें सुन्दर थीं। वह कन्या समस्त सदगुणोंसे सम्पन्न थी

Transliteration

vyāsa uvāca āśīt tapovane kācid ṛṣeḥ kanyā mahātmanaḥ | vilagnamadhyā suśroṇī subhrūḥ sarvaguṇānvitā ||

Translation

Вьяса сказал: Некогда в лесной обители подвижников жила дочь великодушного риши. Тонкая в стане, с изящными бедрами и прекрасными бровями, она была наделена всеми благородными качествами.

Word by Word

व्यासःVyasa

उवाचsaid

आसीत्there was

तपोवनेin the penance-grove/forest of austerities

काचित्a certain

ऋषेःof a sage

कन्याdaughter/maiden

महात्मनःof the great-souled (sage)

विलग्नमध्याshe whose waist was slender/closely drawn in

सुश्रोणीhaving beautiful hips

सुभ्रूःhaving beautiful eyebrows

सर्वगुणान्विताendowed with all virtues

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

a great-souled ṛṣi (unnamed sage)

the sage's daughter (unnamed maiden)

tapovana (forest hermitage)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds an ethical ideal: a person’s worth is grounded in guṇa (virtue) cultivated in a disciplined, dharmic setting (tapovana). Physical description functions as a conventional poetic marker, but the culminating praise is moral—'sarvaguṇānvitā', endowed with all virtues.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa begins a new episode by introducing a key figure: an unnamed sage’s daughter living in an ascetic forest hermitage. Her qualities—both outward and inward—are described to prepare the listener for the events that will follow involving her.