Shloka 1
Śama-prāptiḥ — Gautamī–Lubdhaka–Pannaga–Mṛtyu–Kāla-saṃvāda
Restraint through the Analysis of Karma and Time
नारायणं नमस्कृत्य नरं चैव नरोत्तमम् | देवीं सरस्वतीं व्यासं ततो जयमुदीरयेत् ।।
nārāyaṇaṁ namaskṛtya naraṁ caiva narottamam | devīṁ sarasvatīṁ vyāsaṁ tato jayam udīrayet || yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | śamo bahuvidhākāraḥ sūkṣma uktaḥ pitāmaha | na ca me hṛdaye śāntir asti śrutvedam īdṛśam ||
Поклонившись Нараяне (Nārāyaṇa) и также Наре — лучшему из людей, — вместе с богиней Сарасвати и Вьясой (Vyāsa), следует затем читать «Джаю» (то есть «Махабхарату»). Юдхиштхира сказал: «Дед (Питамаха), ты многими способами изложил тонкую природу śama — внутреннего умиротворения и средств освобождения от скорби; но, даже выслушав такое наставление, я не обретаю мира в сердце».
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames the epic as sacred instruction: recitation should begin with reverence to the divine source (Nārāyaṇa), the ideal human agent (Nara/Arjuna), the power of inspired speech (Sarasvatī), and the transmitting sage (Vyāsa). Ethically, it highlights that intellectual understanding of ‘śama’ (calm/discipline) may still fail to heal grief; inner peace requires deeper assimilation and transformation, not mere hearing.
At the opening of the Anuśāsana Parva, an invocation to the epic’s guiding figures is given. Then Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Bhīṣma as ‘Grandfather,’ acknowledging Bhīṣma’s subtle, multi-faceted counsel on attaining calm after catastrophe, but confessing that his own heart remains unquiet—setting up further instruction on dharma, consolation, and inner restoration.