Shloka 54

Vāg-yuddha and Nimitta-darśana before the Gadāyuddha

Verbal Duel and Omens

Devanagari script

इस प्रकार श्रीमहाभारत शल्यपर्वके अन्तर्गत गदापव॑नें बलदेवजीकी तीर्थयात्राके प्रसंगमें सारस्वतोपाख्यानविषयक चौवनवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ

Transliteration

iti prakāraṁ śrīmahābhārata-śalya-parvake antargata-gadāpavane baladevājī-kī tīrthayātrāke prasaṅgame sārasvatopākhyāna-viṣayaka catuḥpañcāśattamo 'dhyāyaḥ pūrṇaḥ abhūt

Translation

یوں شری مہابھارت کے شلیہ پرب کے تحت گداپرب میں، بلدیو جی کی تیرتھ یاترا کے پس منظر میں ‘سارسوتوپاکھیان’ سے متعلق چونواں باب مکمل ہوا۔

Word by Word

• इति: thus
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति

• प्रकारम्: manner/way
• प्रकारम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रकार
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• श्री: auspiciousness; honorific 'Śrī'
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्री
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• महाभारतम्: the Mahābhārata
• महाभारतम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाभारत
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• शल्यपर्वणि: in the Śalya-parvan
• शल्यपर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शल्यपर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• अन्तर्गत: included/contained (within)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्तर्गत
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• गदापर्वणि: in the Gadā-parvan (club-fight section)
• गदापर्वणि: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: गदापर्वन्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• बलदेवस्य: of Baladeva
• Type: Noun
• Root: बलदेव
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• तीर्थयात्रायाः: of the pilgrimage
• Type: Noun
• Root: तीर्थयात्रा
• Form: Feminine, Genitive, Singular

• प्रसङ्गे: in the context/episode
• प्रसङ्गे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रसङ्ग
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• सारस्वतोपाख्यानविषयकः: concerning the Sārasvata-upākhyāna
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सारस्वत-उपाख्यान-विषयक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• चतुःपञ्चाशत्तमः: fifty-fourth
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुःपञ्चाशत्तम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अध्यायः: chapter
• अध्यायः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अध्याय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• समाप्तः: completed/ended
• Type: Adjective
• Root: समाप्त
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अभवत्: was/became
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Śrī Mahābhārata
• Śalya Parva
• Gadāparvan (mace episode)
• Baladeva (Balarāma)
• Tīrthayātrā (pilgrimage)
• Sārasvata Upākhyāna

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

As a chapter-colophon, the verse teaches indirectly: even amid a war-book (Śalya Parva), the Mahābhārata preserves dharma through structured narration—pilgrimage and exemplary sub-tales are presented as means to recall, transmit, and re-anchor ethical order.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana signals the completion of the fifty-fourth chapter: the Sārasvata Upākhyāna has been told within the broader context of Baladeva’s tīrthayātrā during the Gadā (mace-related) episode in Śalya Parva, and the text now prepares to move to the next segment.