Mahabharata 1.115.163 — Adi Parva, Adhyaya 115, Shloka 163

Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 115 — Mādri’s request; invocation of the Aśvins; birth and naming of the Pāṇḍavas

Devanagari script

इयं च मे मांसपेशी जाता पुत्रशताय वै | गान्धारीने कहा--मुने! मैंने सुना है

Transliteration

iyaṃ ca me māṃsapeśī jātā putraśatāya vai |

Translation

Sinabi ni Vaiśaṃpāyana: “At sa aking panig, sa halip na ang ipinangakong sandaang anak na lalaki, isang bukol lamang ng laman ang isinilang.” Sa salaysay na nakapaligid dito, si Gāndhārī—nang mabalitaan na si Kuntī ay nagsilang ng maringal na panganay na kasingningning ng araw—ay nilamon ng dalamhati at paninibugho, sinaktan ang sariling sinapupunan at nakunan; kaya ang biyayang “sandaang anak” ay lumitaw sa anyong baluktot, at dito nagsimulang mahubog ang mga tensiyong pang-dharma sa sambahayang Kuru.

Word by Word

• इयम्: this (she/it)
• इयम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• मे: of me / my
• मे: Sampradana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: Genitive, Singular

• मांसपेशी: a lump of flesh
• मांसपेशी: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मांसपेशी
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• जाता: born / produced
• Type: Verb
• Root: जन्
• Form: क्त, Feminine, Nominative, Singular, past passive participle (resultative)

• पुत्रशताय: for (the begetting of) a hundred sons
• पुत्रशताय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुत्रशत
• Form: Neuter, Dative, Singular

• वै: indeed / surely
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• Gāndhārī
• Kuntī
• the hundred sons (putraśata)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Unchecked grief and envy can drive self-harm and distort one’s blessings; the episode frames how inner impulses (krodha, śoka, īrṣyā) can shape outcomes and foreshadow wider adharma in a dynasty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Gāndhārī, distressed on hearing of Kuntī’s radiant firstborn, strikes her womb and expels the pregnancy; instead of immediate sons, a single lump of flesh is produced, which later becomes the basis for the birth of the Kauravas.