Shloka 3

गोप्रदान-माहात्म्ये गोलोक-प्रश्नः

Gopradāna-Māhātmya: Inquiry into Goloka

Devanagari script

मध्यदेशे महान ग्रामो ब्राह्म॒णानां बभूव ह | गंगायमुनयोर्मध्ये यामुनस्य गिरेरध:

Transliteration

bhīṣma uvāca | madhyadeśe mahān grāmo brāhmaṇānāṃ babhūva ha | gaṅgāyamunayor madhye yāmunasya girer adhaḥ |

Translation

毗湿摩说道：在中土（Madhyadeśa）曾有一处婆罗门的大聚落。它位于恒河与阎牟那河之间，在阎牟那山的坡麓之下。此段以一座著名的婆罗门村落为开端——学问与戒律生活的理想化场景——为后续以圣地地理之权威与贤者行持为根基的法义教诲叙事铺陈背景。

Word by Word

• मध्यदेशे: in the Middle Country (Madhyadeśa)
• मध्यदेशे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मध्यदेश
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• महान्: great
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• ग्रामः: village
• ग्रामः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: ग्राम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• ब्राह्मणानाम्: of Brahmins
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्राह्मण
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• बभूव: was / came to be
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), 3rd, Singular

• ह: indeed (emphatic particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ह

• गङ्गा-यमुनयोः: of the Ganges and Yamunā
• Type: Noun
• Root: गङ्गा + यमुना
• Form: Feminine, Genitive, Dual

• मध्ये: in the middle / between
• मध्ये: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मध्य
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• यामुनस्य: of (the) Yamuna-related / Yamuna (mountain/region)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: यामुन
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• गिरेः: of the mountain
• Type: Noun
• Root: गिरि
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• अधः: below / beneath
• अधः: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अधस्

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Madhyadeśa
• Gaṅgā (river)
• Yamunā (river)
• Yāmuna-giri (mountain/region associated with Yamunā)
• Brāhmaṇas
• Grāma (Brahmin village/settlement)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse establishes a dharmic setting: a Brahmin settlement in the revered Madhyadeśa between the Gaṅgā and Yamunā. By grounding the story in sacred geography and a community of learned Brahmins, the text signals that the forthcoming instruction is to be understood as authoritative and aligned with orthodox dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma begins a new illustrative account by describing the location of a famous Brahmin village situated between the Gaṅgā and Yamunā, below the Yāmuna mountain. This functions as scene-setting before introducing the people and events through which the moral teaching will be conveyed.