Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 97

मातङ्ग–शक्रसंवादः

Mataṅga–Śakra Dialogue on Tapas, Status, and Moral Qualities

Devanagari script

उदाह्नत: सर्वथा ते गुणानां मयैकदेश: प्रसमीक्ष्य बुद्ध्या । शक्तिर्न मे काचिदिहास्ति वक्तुं गुणान्‌ सर्वान्‌ परिमातुं तथैव

Transliteration

udāhṛtaḥ sarvathā te guṇānāṁ mayaikadeśaḥ prasmīkṣya buddhyā | śaktir na me kācid ihāsti vaktuṁ guṇān sarvān parimātuṁ tathaiva, brahman ||

Translation

Hỡi Bà-la-môn, sau khi suy xét trọn vẹn bằng trí hiểu của ta, ta chỉ có thể nói ở đây một phần rất nhỏ những phẩm tính của nàng, theo khả năng của mình. Trong cõi đời này, ta không có sức nào để kể lại—hay đo lường cho trọn—tất cả đức hạnh của nàng.

Word by Word

• {'udāhṛtaḥ': 'stated, described, set forth', 'sarvathā': 'in every way, thoroughly', 'te': 'your/your (here used as respectful address

• contextually ‘of her/that’)', 'guṇānām': 'of qualities, virtues, excellences', 'mayā': 'by me', 'eka-deśaḥ': 'a single part, a small portion', 'prasmīkṣya': 'having examined, having considered', 'buddhyā': 'with intellect, by understanding', 'śaktiḥ': 'capacity, power, ability', 'na me': 'not for me / I do not have', 'kācid': 'any (even the least)', 'iha': 'here, in this world', 'vaktum': 'to speak, to describe', 'sarvān': 'all, entire', 'parimātum': 'to measure, to fully encompass/quantify', 'tathaiva': 'just so, likewise, in the same manner', 'brahman': 'O Brahman

Speaker

सिद्ध उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Siddha (speaker)
• Brahman (addressee)
• Gaṅgā (implied by context: her qualities)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches humility before greatness: even a wise speaker can only indicate a fraction of a truly exalted being’s virtues, acknowledging the limits of intellect and language when praising sacred excellence.

What is happening in the narrative?

A Siddha addresses a brahmin/sage and concludes a eulogy by saying he has described only a small part of Gaṅgā’s qualities, confessing that he lacks the capacity to fully enumerate or measure all her virtues.