Shloka 5

Atithi-prāpti and the Brāhmaṇa’s Deliberation on Triadic Dharma (अतिथिप्राप्तिः धर्मत्रयविचारश्च)

Devanagari script

सौतिरुवाच जनमेजयेन यत्‌ पृष्ट: शिष्यो व्यासस्य धीमतः । तत्‌ ते5हं कथयिष्यामि पौराणं शौनकोत्तम

Transliteration

sautir uvāca janamejayena yat pṛṣṭaḥ śiṣyo vyāsasya dhīmataḥ | tat te ’haṃ kathayiṣyāmi paurāṇaṃ śaunakottama ||

Translation

苏底说道：“噢，绍那迦中之最胜者，我将为你叙述那古老的、出自《往世书》传统的事——那是阇那梅阇耶王所问，而由智者毗耶娑之弟子所答。且听我陈说这相传之记。”

Word by Word

• {'sautiḥ': 'Sauti

• Ugraśravas, son of the sūta (bard)', 'uvāca': 'said', 'janamejayena': 'by Janamejaya (instrumental: ‘by King Janamejaya’)', 'yat': 'which

• what', 'pṛṣṭaḥ': 'asked

• questioned', 'śiṣyaḥ': 'disciple', 'vyāsasya': 'of Vyāsa', 'dhīmataḥ': 'of the intelligent/wise one', 'tat': 'that', 'te': 'to you', 'aham': 'I', 'kathayiṣyāmi': 'I will narrate

• I will tell', 'paurāṇam': 'ancient traditional lore

• Purāṇic account', 'śaunakottama': 'O best of Śaunaka (vocative honorific)'}

Speaker

शौनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sauti (Ugraśravas)
• Shaunaka
• Janamejaya
• Vyasa
• Vaishampayana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes the authority of tradition through lineage: knowledge is validated and preserved when transmitted from a recognized teacher (Vyāsa) through a disciple (Vaiśampāyana) and faithfully retold by a narrator (Sauti). It models disciplined listening and responsible narration as ethical duties in conveying dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sauti addresses the sage Śaunaka and announces that he will recount the Purāṇic subject that King Janamejaya had earlier asked, which was answered in the presence of Vyāsa’s wise disciple Vaiśampāyana. This functions as a framing transition into the forthcoming discourse.