Shloka 4

Devanagari script

वैशम्पायन उवाच यदर्थ शार्कईकानग्निर्न ददाह तथागते । तत्‌ ते सर्व प्रवक्ष्यामि यथाभूतमरिंदम

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | yadarthaṃ śārkāikān agnir na dadāha tathāgate | tat te sarvaṃ pravakṣyāmi yathābhūtam ariṃdama ||

Translation

வைசம்பாயனர் கூறினார்—ஓ பகைவரை அடக்கும் வீரனே! அந்தக் கொடிய தீப்பெருக்கம் நிகழ்ந்தபோதிலும் அக்னிதேவன் எந்தக் காரணத்தால் சார்கஈகர்களைச் சுடவில்லை, மேலும் அந்த நிகழ்வு எவ்வாறு நடந்தது என்பதையும்—அனைத்தையும் உனக்கு உண்மையாய் உரைப்பேன். கேள்.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'vaiśampāyana uvāca', 'definition': 'Vaiśampāyana said (narrator’s speech marker).'}, {'term': 'yadartham', 'definition': 'for what reason

• on account of which cause.'}, {'term': 'agnīḥ / agniḥ', 'definition': 'Agni

• fire.'}, {'term': 'na dadāha', 'definition': 'did not burn

• did not consume.'}, {'term': 'tathāgate', 'definition': 'when it had thus occurred

• when it had come to pass (locative absolute sense).'}, {'term': 'tat te sarvam', 'definition': 'all that to you.'}, {'term': 'pravakṣyāmi', 'definition': 'I will explain

• I will narrate in detail.'}, {'term': 'yathābhūtam', 'definition': 'as it truly happened

• according to the facts.'}, {'term': 'ariṃdama', 'definition': 'subduer of enemies (epithet, here addressing Janamejaya).'}, {'term': 'śārkāikān', 'definition': 'the Śārkāikas (a named group/people

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Agni (Fire-god)
• Janamejaya
• Śārkāikas

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds truthful narration and moral causality: extraordinary outcomes (such as divine fire not burning a particular group) are presented as having specific reasons, which the narrator promises to relate exactly as they occurred.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, addressing King Janamejaya, transitions into an explanatory account: he will describe why Agni spared the Śārkāikas during a terrifying fire and will recount the incident in full detail.