Shloka 2

पाण्डोः प्रेतकार्य-सम्पादनम्

Pāṇḍu’s Funeral Rites and Public Mourning

Devanagari script

नामथेयानि चाप्येषां कथ्यमानानि भागश: । त्वत्त: श्रुतानि मे ब्रह्म॒न्‌ पाण्डवानां च कीर्तय,ब्रह्मन! इन धृतराष्ट्रपुत्रोंक पृथक्‌ू-पृथक्‌ नाम भी जो आपने कहे हैं, वे मैंने अच्छी तरह सुन लिये। अब पाण्डवोंके जन्मका वर्णन कीजिये

Transliteration

Janamejaya uvāca: nāmatheyāni cāpy eṣāṃ kathyamānāni bhāgaśaḥ | tvattaḥ śrutāni me brahman pāṇḍavānāṃ ca kīrtaya ||

Translation

阇那梅阇耶说道：“婆罗门啊，你分段叙说的持国（Dhṛtarāṣṭra）诸子之名，我已从你处听得分明。如今也请你讲述般度族（Pāṇḍava）诸王子的诞生始末。”

Word by Word

नामधेयानिnames

चand

अपिalso

एषाम्of these (persons)

कथ्यमानानिbeing told/being narrated

भागशःseparately; in parts

त्वत्तःfrom you

श्रुतानिheard

मेby me / to me (for me)

ब्रह्मन्O Brahmin (sage)

पाण्डवानाम्of the Pandavas

चand

कीर्तयtell; recount; proclaim

Speaker

जनमेजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Janamejaya

Brahman (the sage addressed, i.e., Vaiśaṃpāyana in context)

Dhṛtarāṣṭra-putrāḥ (sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, i.e., the Kauravas)

Pāṇḍavāḥ (the Pāṇḍavas)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the disciplined transmission of itihāsa: a listener first receives a structured account (names recited one by one) and then requests the complementary lineage. It models attentive listening, orderly narration, and the ethical seriousness with which history and genealogy are preserved.

What is happening in the narrative?

King Janamejaya, having heard the separate names of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons, asks the sage to proceed to the Pāṇḍavas—specifically to recount their account (their lineage/birth narrative) as the next part of the story.