Shloka 2

Gaṅgā-māhātmya: Siddha–Śilavṛtti-saṃvāda and Gaṅgā-stava (गङ्गामाहात्म्यं—सिद्ध-शिलवृत्ति-संवादः)

Devanagari script

भीष्म उवाच व्यासमामन्त्रय राजेन्द्र पुरा यत्‌ पृष्टवानहम्‌ । तत्ते5हं सम्प्रवक्ष्यामि तदिहैकमना: शृणु,भीष्मजीने कहा--राजेन्द्र! पूर्वकालमें मैंने एक बार व्यासजीको बुलाकर उनसे जो प्रश्न किया था (तथा उन्होंने मुझे उसका जो उत्तर दिया था), वह सब तुम्हें बता रहा हूँ। तुम यहाँ एकाग्रचित्त होकर सुनो

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca: vyāsam āmantrya rājendra purā yat pṛṣṭavān aham | tat te 'haṃ sampravakṣyāmi tad ihaikamanāḥ śṛṇu ||

Translation

भीष्म उवाच। व्यासमामन्त्र्य राजेन्द्र पुरा यत् पृष्टवानहम्। तत्तेऽहं सम्प्रवक्ष्यामि तदिहैकमना: शृणु॥

Word by Word

• {'bhīṣma uvāca': 'Bhishma said', 'vyāsam': 'Vyasa (the sage Vyasa), accusative singular', 'āmantrya': 'having summoned, having invited (absolutive)', 'rājendra': 'O best of kings, O king among kings (vocative)', 'purā': 'formerly, in earlier times', 'yat': 'which, what (relative pronoun referring to the question/matter)', 'pṛṣṭavān': 'asked (perfect participle, masculine singular)', 'aham': 'I', 'tat': 'that (the same matter/answer)', 'te': 'to you', 'sampravakṣyāmi': 'I will fully explain / I will recount in detail (future)', 'iha': 'here, in this context/occasion', 'eka-manāḥ': 'single-minded, attentive, concentrated', 'śṛṇu': 'listen (imperative)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Vyasa
• Yudhishthira

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes disciplined reception of dharma-teaching: authoritative knowledge is transmitted through a remembered dialogue with a sage, and the listener is urged to hear with focused attention.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma addresses Yudhishthira and introduces a teaching he once received from Vyasa. He signals that he will now recount that earlier question-and-answer and asks the king to listen attentively.