Shloka 6
अध्याय ३५१ — उञ्छवृत्ति-व्रतसिद्धेः मानुषस्य परमगतिः
Sūrya–Nāga Dialogue on the Perfected Gleaner-Ascetic
जनमेजय उवाच त्वयैव कथित पूर्व सम्भवे द्विजसत्तम | वसिष्ठस्य सुतः शक्ति: शक्तिपुत्र: पराशर:
janamejaya uvāca | tvayaiva kathitaḥ pūrva-sambhave dvija-sattama | vasiṣṭhasya sutaḥ śaktiḥ śakti-putraḥ parāśaraḥ |
Джанамеджая сказал: О лучший из брахманов! Рассказывая о прежних происхождениях, ты сам говорил, что Шакти — сын Васиштхи, а Парашара — сын Шакти. Но теперь ты называешь их потомством Нараяны. Как это следует понимать?
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a common Mahābhārata method: reconciling human genealogy with divine causality. A sage can be described both through biological lineage (Vasiṣṭha → Śakti → Parāśara → Vyāsa) and through theological origin (as ultimately rooted in Nārāyaṇa), without contradiction when understood as different explanatory levels.
Janamejaya challenges the narrator (addressed as ‘best of Brahmins’) about an apparent inconsistency: earlier the narrator gave Vyāsa’s human ancestry through Vasiṣṭha, Śakti, and Parāśara, but now speaks of them as connected to Nārāyaṇa. The question prompts a clarifying explanation about lineage and divine manifestation.