Shloka 19

अनुक्रमणिकाध्यायः (Anukramaṇikā Adhyāya) — Invocation, Narrator Frame, and Textual Scope

Devanagari script

भारतस्येतिहासस्य पुण्यां ग्रन्थार्थसंयुताम्‌ । संस्कारोपगतां ब्राह्मीं नानाशास्त्रोपबृंहिताम्‌

Transliteration

bhāratasyetihāsasya puṇyāṃ granthārthasaṃyutām | saṃskāropagatāṃ brāhmīṃ nānāśāstropabṛṃhitām

Translation

นี่คือเรื่องราวอันเป็นบุญแห่งอิติหาสะภารตะ—อุดมด้วยความหมายและคำสั่งสอนของคัมภีร์ ผ่านการขัดเกลาด้วยจารีตและวินัย ร้อยเรียงด้วยวาจาอันสูงส่งตามแนวพระเวท และได้รับการหนุนเสริมด้วยศาสตร์นานาประการ

Word by Word

भारतस्यof Bharata (i.e., of the Bharata lineage/India)

इतिहासस्यof the history/itihasa

पुण्याम्holy, meritorious

ग्रन्थार्थसंयुताम्endowed with the meaning/purport of the text

संस्कारोपगताम्refined by संस्कार (purificatory rites/cultivation)

ब्राह्मीम्Brahmic/sacred (pertaining to Brahman/Brāhmaṇa tradition)

नानाvarious, many kinds of

शास्त्रोपबृंहिताम्augmented/enriched by treatises (śāstras)

Characters & Entities

Bhārata (Mahābhārata/Itihāsa)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames the Mahābhārata as a sacred itihāsa whose purpose is ethical and spiritual instruction: it is carefully refined by tradition (saṃskāra), expressed in authoritative sacred language (brāhmī), and supported by multiple disciplines (śāstras), implying that its narrative carries deliberate moral and philosophical purport.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the opening of the Ādi Parva, the text is being introduced and praised: the speaker characterizes the Bhārata as a holy, well-structured work with coherent meaning, shaped by cultural and ritual refinement and enriched by diverse branches of knowledge—setting expectations for a comprehensive dharma-centered epic.