Shloka 8

Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 178 — Royal Contestants Assemble; Cosmic Witnesses; The Bow Remains Unstrung

Devanagari script

मन्यसे यं तु तातेति नैष तातस्तवानघ । आर्य एष पिता तस्य पितुस्तव यशस्विन:,“अनघ! तुम जिन्हें तात मानते हो, ये तुम्हारे तात नहीं हैं। ये तो तुम्हारे यशस्वी पिताके भी पूजनीय पिता हैं!

Transliteration

manyase yaṃ tu tāteti naiṣa tātastavānagha | ārya eṣa pitā tasya pitustava yaśasvinaḥ ||

Translation

乾闼婆说道：“无垢者啊，你称作‘父亲’的那个人并非你的父亲；他乃是你那声名显赫之父的可敬之父。”

Word by Word

मन्यसेyou think/consider

यम्whom

तुbut/indeed

तातO dear / O father

इतिthus (quotative)

नnot

एषःthis (man)

तातःfather

तवof you/your

अनघO blameless one

आर्यःnoble/venerable

एषःthis (man)

पिताfather

तस्यof him/of that one

पितुःof the father

तवof you/your

यशस्विनःof the glorious/renowned (one)

Speaker

गन्धर्व उवाच

Characters & Entities

Gandharva (speaker)

anagha (addressed person, unnamed in the verse)

the person addressed as 'tāta' (unnamed)

the illustrious father (unnamed)

the venerable father of that father (grandfather figure, unnamed)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse stresses truthful recognition of relationships and the ethical duty to accord proper reverence according to lineage—one should not misidentify elders, and nobility (ārya) is linked with rightful respect.

What is happening in the narrative?

A Gandharva corrects the addressee’s assumption about who his ‘father’ is, revealing that the person being called ‘tāta’ is actually the revered father of the addressee’s own famous father—i.e., a grandfather figure—thereby clarifying genealogy and status.