Shloka 2

Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 178 — Royal Contestants Assemble; Cosmic Witnesses; The Bow Remains Unstrung

Devanagari script

जातकर्मादिकास्तस्य क्रिया: स मुनिसत्तम: । पौत्रस्य भरतश्रेष्ठ चकार भगवान्‌ स्वयम्‌,भरतश्रेष्ठ! मुनिवर भगवान्‌ वसिष्ठने स्वयं अपने पौत्रके जातकर्म आदि संस्कार किये

Transliteration

jātakarmādikās tasya kriyāḥ sa munisattamaḥ | pautrasya bharataśreṣṭha cakāra bhagavān svayam ||

Translation

О лучший из Бхаратов! Тот превосходнейший мудрец — почитаемый и досточтимый — сам совершил для своего внука все предписанные обряды, начиная с джата-кармы (jātakarma), обряда при рождении.

Word by Word

जातकर्मादिकाःbirth-rite etc. (rites beginning with jāta-karma)

तस्यof him / his

क्रियाःrites, ceremonies

सःhe

मुनिसत्तमःthe best of sages

पौत्रस्यof (his) grandson

भरतश्रेष्ठO best of the Bharatas

चकारdid, performed

भगवान्venerable, revered

स्वयम्himself

Speaker

गन्धर्व उवाच

Characters & Entities

ग

गन्धर्व (speaker)

व

वसिष्ठ (implied by context as the munivara performing rites)

भ

भरतश्रेष्ठ (addressee)

प

पौत्र (grandson; unnamed here)

ज

जातकर्म (rite)

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?

Dharma is upheld through proper saṃskāras: even a supreme sage personally performs the child’s rites, showing that spiritual greatness includes faithful observance of social and familial duties.

What is happening in the narrative?

A Gandharva narrates that the foremost sage (understood as Vasiṣṭha in this context) conducted the grandson’s ceremonial rites starting from jātakarma, emphasizing the legitimacy and careful nurturing of the child within the lineage.