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

Và Droṇa lừng danh ấy là ai, người mà bốn người con trai được sinh ra—những bậc đức hạnh, đại tâm, thông hiểu pháp (dharma)?

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.