Shloka 73

Devanagari script

प्रतिपर्वसमाप्तौ तु पुस्तकं वै विचक्षण: । सुवर्णेन च संयुक्त वाचकाय निवेदयेत्‌

Transliteration

pratiparvasamāptau tu pustakaṃ vai vicakṣaṇaḥ | suvarṇena ca saṃyuktaṃ vācakāya nivedayet, pṛthvīnātha |

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana nói: “Khi kết thúc mỗi parvan, người tinh tường nên dâng quyển sách—kèm theo vàng—cho người đọc tụng. Muôn tâu chúa tể cõi đất! Dẫu người nghe nghèo khó, vẫn nhất định phải làm lễ hiến tặng một con bò, cùng với nửa khoản thù lao thường lệ. Vì thế, ở cuối mỗi parvan, bậc học giả hãy long trọng trao quyển sách, kèm vàng, cho người đọc tụng.”

Word by Word

• {'prati-parva-samāpti': 'the completion of each parvan/section', 'tu': 'indeed

• then', 'pustaka': 'book

• manuscript (the text being recited)', 'vai': 'certainly

• indeed (emphatic particle)', 'vicakṣaṇaḥ': 'discerning

• judicious person', 'suvarṇa': 'gold', 'saṃyukta': 'joined with

• accompanied by', 'vācaka': 'reciter

• one who publicly reads/recites', 'nivedayet': 'should present

• should hand over', 'pṛthvīnātha': 'lord of the earth

• king (vocative address)', 'śrotā': 'listener

• audience member', 'daridra': 'poor

• indigent', 'dakṣiṇā': 'honorarium/fee given to officiant or reciter

• ritual gratuity', 'go-dāna': 'gift of a cow (a meritorious donation)'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• pṛthvīnātha (the king addressed)
• pustaka (book/manuscript)
• suvarṇa (gold)
• vācaka (reciter/reader)
• śrotā (listener)
• go (cow, as donation)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches the dharma of supporting sacred recitation and learning through appropriate gifts: at each parvan’s completion one should honor the reciter with the text and gold, and even when resources are limited, one should still perform meritorious giving (such as go-dāna) with a reduced but sincere dakṣiṇā.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana is describing customary observances connected with hearing/reciting the Mahābhārata: the patron or listener marks each parvan’s end by formally offering gifts—especially the manuscript and gold—to the vācaka, emphasizing respectful patronage of the transmission of the epic.