Shloka 3

गोप्रदान-माहात्म्ये गोलोक-प्रश्नः

Gopradāna-Māhātmya: Inquiry into Goloka

Devanagari script

मध्यदेशे महान ग्रामो ब्राह्म॒णानां बभूव ह | गंगायमुनयोर्मध्ये यामुनस्य गिरेरध:

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | madhyadeśe mahān grāmo brāhmaṇānāṃ babhūva ha | gaṅgāyamunayor madhye yāmunasya girer adhaḥ |

Translation

మధ్యదేశములో బ్రాహ్మణుల ఒక మహాగ్రామము ఉండెను. అది గంగా-యమునల మధ్య, యామున పర్వతపు దిగువ భాగమున ఉండెను।

Word by Word

• मध्यदेशे: in the Middle Country (Madhyadeśa)
• मध्यदेशे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मध्यदेश
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• महान्: great
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• ग्रामः: village
• ग्रामः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: ग्राम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• ब्राह्मणानाम्: of Brahmins
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्राह्मण
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• बभूव: was / came to be
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), 3rd, Singular

• ह: indeed (emphatic particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ह

• गङ्गा-यमुनयोः: of the Ganges and Yamunā
• Type: Noun
• Root: गङ्गा + यमुना
• Form: Feminine, Genitive, Dual

• मध्ये: in the middle / between
• मध्ये: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मध्य
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• यामुनस्य: of (the) Yamuna-related / Yamuna (mountain/region)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: यामुन
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• गिरेः: of the mountain
• Type: Noun
• Root: गिरि
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• अधः: below / beneath
• अधः: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अधस्

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Madhyadeśa
• Gaṅgā (river)
• Yamunā (river)
• Yāmuna-giri (mountain/region associated with Yamunā)
• Brāhmaṇas
• Grāma (Brahmin village/settlement)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse establishes a dharmic setting: a Brahmin settlement in the revered Madhyadeśa between the Gaṅgā and Yamunā. By grounding the story in sacred geography and a community of learned Brahmins, the text signals that the forthcoming instruction is to be understood as authoritative and aligned with orthodox dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma begins a new illustrative account by describing the location of a famous Brahmin village situated between the Gaṅgā and Yamunā, below the Yāmuna mountain. This functions as scene-setting before introducing the people and events through which the moral teaching will be conveyed.