Shloka 26

Adhyaya 1 — Jaimini’s Questions on the Mahabharata and the Origin of the Wise Birds

Sanskrit

कश्च द्रोणः प्रविख्यातो यस्य पुत्रचतुष्टयम् ।

जातं गुणवतां तेषां धर्मज्ञानं महात्मनाम् ॥

Transliteration

kaś ca droṇaḥ pravikhyāto yasya putracatuṣṭayam /

jātaṃ guṇavatāṃ teṣāṃ dharmajñānaṃ mahātmanām

Translation

แล้วโทรณะผู้เลื่องชื่อนั้นคือผู้ใด ผู้ซึ่งมีบุตรสี่คนบังเกิด—เป็นมหาตมะผู้ทรงคุณ รู้ธรรม

Word by Word

• kaḥ: who
• kaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Interrogative subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Interrogative pronoun (किम्), Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (समुच्चय/Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya; conjunction (समुच्चयबोधक)

• droṇaḥ: Droṇa
• droṇaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: droṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

• pravikhyātaḥ: well-known
• pravikhyātaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pra-vi-√khyā (धातु) + kta (क्त)
• Form: Kṛdanta past passive participle (क्त-प्रत्यय); Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; qualifies droṇaḥ

• yasya: whose
• yasya: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (षष्ठी/Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Relative pronoun, Masculine/Neuter, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular

• putra-catuṣṭayam: a group of four sons
• putra-catuṣṭayam: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: putra (प्रातिपदिक) + catuṣṭaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुष sense: ‘a set of four sons’); Neuter, Nominative/Accusative (1st/2nd), Singular

• jātam: was born
• jātam: Kriyā (क्रिया/Predicate state)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √jan (धातु) + kta (क्त)
• Form: Kṛdanta past passive participle (क्त-प्रत्यय) used predicatively; Neuter, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; agrees with putra-catuṣṭayam

• guṇavatām: of the virtuous
• guṇavatām: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (षष्ठी/Genitive relation)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: guṇavat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Adjective used substantively; Masculine, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural; ‘of the virtuous’

• teṣām: of them
• teṣām: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (षष्ठी/Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun, Masculine/Neuter, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural

• dharma-jñānam: knowledge of dharma
• dharma-jñānam: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dharma (प्रातिपदिक) + jñāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष) ‘knowledge of dharma’; Neuter, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular

• mahātmanām: of the great-souled
• mahātmanām: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (षष्ठी/Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahātman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural; ‘of great-souled ones’

Speakers

• Frame-dialogue context (question posed within the opening inquiry; specific speaker not explicit from the single verse alone)

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "adbhuta", "secondaryRasa": "shanta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Key Themes

• Genealogy
• Dharma
• Sage-lineages
• Virtuous progeny

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse treats dharma as a transmissible excellence: true nobility is marked not merely by fame or birth, but by offspring (or disciples) characterized by guṇa (virtue) and dharmajñāna (moral-spiritual discernment). It frames lineage as meaningful when it preserves ethical knowledge.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Primarily aligns with Vaṃśa (genealogies of sages/royal lines) and indirectly supports Manvantara narration by situating characters through lineage, a common Purāṇic method of anchoring chronology and authority.

What is the esoteric significance?

Droṇa functions as a symbolic ‘vessel’ (droṇa = a measure/container in Sanskrit usage), suggesting a lineage as a container of dharma: when the ‘container’ is sound, it yields a ‘quartet’ of virtues—multiple expressions of righteous intelligence—rather than mere worldly accomplishment.