Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 81 Shloka 3 - Mahabharata | Telugu | Vedapath

Vyasa

←Previous VerseNext Verse→

Shloka 3

गोशकृन्माहात्म्य-प्रश्नः (On the Merit of Cow-Dung and the Abode of Śrī) / Inquiry into the Sanctity of Cow-Dung

Devanagari script

सौदास उवाच त्रैलोक्ये भगवन्‌ किंस्वित्‌ पवित्र कथ्यतेडनघ । यत्‌ कीर्तयन्‌ सदा मर्त्य: प्राप्तुयात्‌ पुण्यमुत्तमम्‌

Transliteration

saudāsa uvāca | trailokye bhagavan kiṃsvit pavitraṃ kathyate 'nagha | yat kīrtayan sadā martyaḥ prāpnuyāt puṇyam uttamam ||

Translation

సౌదాసుడు పలికెను—భగవన్! నిర్దోష మహర్షీ! త్రిలోకాలలో నిజంగా పవిత్రమని ఏది చెప్పబడుతుంది? దానిని సదా కీర్తించుచు మానవుడు ఉత్తమ పుణ్యాన్ని పొందగలడా?

Word by Word

सौदासःSaudāsa (king Saudāsa)

उवाचsaid

त्रैलोक्येin the three worlds

भगवन्O venerable one

किम्what?

स्वित्indeed / I wonder (interrogative particle)

पवित्रम्pure, purifier (thing)

कथ्यतेis said / is called

अनघO sinless one

यत्which (thing)

कीर्तयन्praising / reciting (its name)

सदाalways

मर्त्यःa mortal, man

प्राप्तुयात्might obtain

पुण्यम्merit

उत्तमम्highest, excellent

Speaker

सौदास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Saudāsa

trailokya (the three worlds)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a dharmic inquiry: among all things considered sacred, what is the supreme purifier whose remembrance or recitation reliably yields the highest merit. It highlights the ethical-spiritual power attributed to continual kīrtana (praise/recitation) of a truly purifying object or name.

What is happening in the narrative?

King Saudāsa addresses a revered, sinless sage and asks for guidance. He seeks to know what, across the three worlds, is regarded as the most purifying—so that by constantly reciting it a human being may attain supreme puṇya.