Mahabharata — Svargarohana Parva, Shloka 91

Devanagari script

भारतं सर्वशास्त्राणामुत्तमं भरतर्षभ | भारतात्‌ प्राप्यते मोक्षस्तत्त्वमेतद्‌ ब्रवीमि तत्‌

Transliteration

bhārataṃ sarvaśāstrāṇām uttamaṃ bharatarṣabha | bhāratāt prāpyate mokṣas tattvam etad bravīmi te ||

Translation

毗舍波耶那说道：“婆罗多族之雄牛啊，《摩诃婆罗多》为一切论典之最胜。由《婆罗多》可得解脱（mokṣa）；此乃我向你宣说的真实。”

Word by Word

• {'bhārataṃ': 'the Bhārata

• the Mahābhārata epic', 'sarvaśāstrāṇām': 'of all śāstras

• of all authoritative teachings/treatises', 'uttamam': 'supreme, best, highest', 'bharatarṣabha': 'O bull of the Bharata line

• an honorific address to a foremost descendant of Bharata', 'bhāratāt': 'from the Bhārata

• by means of the Mahābhārata', 'prāpyate': 'is attained, is obtained', 'mokṣaḥ': 'liberation, release (from saṃsāra)', 'tattvam': 'truth, essential principle, reality', 'etat': 'this', 'bravīmi': 'I say, I declare', 'te': 'to you'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• Mahābhārata (Bhārata)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse asserts the Mahābhārata’s status as the highest among śāstras and presents engagement with the Bhārata as a means to mokṣa, emphasizing that its narrative is also a vehicle of ultimate truth (tattva) and spiritual release.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Svargārohaṇa context, Vaiśaṃpāyana addresses his listener with an honorific and offers a concluding-type commendation of the epic itself, framing the Mahābhārata not merely as history but as authoritative instruction capable of leading to liberation.