Shloka 42
समन्तपञ्चक-आख्यानम् तथा अक्षौहिणी-प्रमाणनिर्णयः
Samantapañcaka Narrative and the Measure of an Akṣauhiṇī
पौष्यं पौलोममास्तीकमादिरंशावतारणम् | ततः सम्भवपर्वोक्तमद्भुतं रोमहर्षणम्,इसके पश्चात् पौष्य, पौलोम, आस्तीक और आदिअंशावतरण पर्व हैं। तदनन्तर सम्भवपर्वका वर्णन है, जो अत्यन्त अद्भुत और रोमांचकारी है
pauṣyaṃ paulomam āstīkam ādir aṃśāvatāraṇam | tataḥ sambhava-parvoktam adbhutaṃ romaharṣaṇam |
其后依次为《波乌沙篇》（Pauṣya）、《保罗摩篇》（Pauloma）、《阿斯提迦篇》（Āstīka）与《初始分身降世篇》（Ādi-aṃśāvatāraṇa，述诸部分化身之事）。再后叙《诞生篇》（Sambhava-parvan）——奇绝非常，令人毛发悚然，惊叹不已。
राम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse functions as a table-of-contents marker: it frames the Mahābhārata as a carefully ordered transmission of sacred history, where extraordinary events (adbhuta) and divine ‘partial incarnations’ (aṃśāvatāraṇa) are presented to illuminate the moral universe in which dharma operates through lineage, vows, and cosmic purpose.
The speaker enumerates successive sub-parvans within the opening portion: Pauṣya, Pauloma, Āstīka, and the account of aṃśa-avatāras, followed by the Sambhava-parvan, described as wondrous and thrilling—signaling that the text is moving into the origins and births of key lineages and figures.