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:,जनमेजयने कहा--द्विजश्रेष्ठस आपहीने पहले आदिपर्वकी कथा सुनाते समय यह कहा था कि वसिष्ठके पुत्र शक्ति, शक्तिके पुत्र पराशर और पराशरके पुत्र मुनिवर श्रीकृष्णद्वैपायन व्यास हैं और अब पुन: आप इन्हें नारायणका पुत्र बतला रहे हैं
janamejaya uvāca | tvayaiva kathitaḥ pūrva-sambhave dvija-sattama | vasiṣṭhasya sutaḥ śaktiḥ śakti-putraḥ parāśaraḥ |
जनमेजय उवाच । त्वयैव कथितं पूर्वं सम्भवे द्विजसत्तम । वसिष्ठस्य सुतः शक्तिः शक्तिपुत्रः पराशरः ॥
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.