जनमेजय उवाच
कथितं वै समासेन त्वया सर्वं द्विजोत्तम ॥
महाभारतम् आख्यानं कुरूणां चरितं महत् ॥
कथां त्व् अनघ चित्रार्थाम् इमां कथयति त्वयि ॥
विस्तरश्रवणे जातं कौतूहलम् अतीव मे ॥
स भवान् विस्तरेणेमां पुनर् आख्यातुम् अर्हति ॥
न हि तृप्यामि पूर्वेषां शृण्वानश् चरितं महत् ॥
न तत् कारणम् अल्पं हि धर्मज्ञा यत्र पाण्डवाः ॥
अवध्यान् सर्वशो जघ्नुः प्रशस्यन्ते च मानवैः ॥
किमर्थं ते नरव्याघ्राः शक्ताः सन्तो ह्य् अनागसः ॥
प्रयुज्यमानान् संक्लेशान् क्षान्तवन्तो दुरात्मनाम् ॥
कथं नागायुतप्राणो बाहुशाली वृकोदरः ॥
परिक्लिश्यन्न् अपि क्रोधं धृतवान् वै द्विजोत्तम ॥
कथं सा द्रौपदी कृष्णा क्लिश्यमाना दुरात्मभिः ॥
शक्ता सती धार्तराष्ट्रान् नादहद् घोरचक्षुषा ॥
कथं व्यतिक्रमन् द्यूते पार्थौ माद्रीसुतौ तथा ॥
अनुव्रजन् नरव्याघ्रं वञ्च्यमानं दुरात्मभिः ॥
कथं धर्मभृतां श्रेष्ठः सुतो धर्मस्य धर्मवित् ॥
अनर्हः परमं क्लेशं सोढवान् स युधिष्ठिरः ॥
कथं च बहुलाः सेनाः पाण्डवः कृष्णसारथिः ॥
अस्यन्न् एको ऽनयत् सर्वाः पितृलोकं धनंजयः ॥
एतद् आचक्ष्व मे सर्वं यथावृत्तं तपोधन ॥
यद् यच् च कृतवन्तस् ते तत्र तत्र महारथाः ॥
janamejaya uvāca
kathitaṃ vai samāsena tvayā sarvaṃ dvijottama ||
mahābhāratam ākhyānaṃ kurūṇāṃ caritaṃ mahat ||
kathāṃ tv anagha citrārthām imāṃ kathayati tvayi ||
vistaraśravaṇe jātaṃ kautūhalam atīva me ||
sa bhavān vistareṇemāṃ punar ākhyātum arhati ||
na hi tṛpyāmi pūrveṣāṃ śṛṇvānaś caritaṃ mahat ||
na tat kāraṇam alpaṃ hi dharmajñā yatra pāṇḍavāḥ ||
avadhyān sarvaśo jaghnuḥ praśasyante ca mānavaiḥ ||
kimarthaṃ te naravyāghrāḥ śaktāḥ santo hy anāgasaḥ ||
prayujyamānān saṃkleśān kṣāntavanto durātmanām ||
kathaṃ nāgāyutaprāṇo bāhuśālī vṛkodaraḥ ||
parikliśyann api krodhaṃ dhṛtavān vai dvijottama ||
kathaṃ sā draupadī kṛṣṇā kliśyamānā durātmabhiḥ ||
śaktā satī dhārtarāṣṭrān nādahad ghoracakṣuṣā ||
kathaṃ vyatikraman dyūte pārthau mādrīsutau tathā ||
anuvrajan naravyāghraṃ vañcyamānaṃ durātmabhiḥ ||
kathaṃ dharmabhṛtāṃ śreṣṭhaḥ suto dharmasya dharmavit ||
anarhaḥ paramaṃ kleśaṃ soḍhavān sa yudhiṣṭhiraḥ ||
kathaṃ ca bahulāḥ senāḥ pāṇḍavaḥ kṛṣṇasārathiḥ ||
asyann eko 'nayat sarvāḥ pitṛlokaṃ dhanaṃjayaḥ ||
etad ācakṣva me sarvaṃ yathāvṛttaṃ tapodhana ||
yad yac ca kṛtavantas te tatra tatra mahārathāḥ ||
Janamejaya said: “In brief you have told me everything, O best of the twice-born — the tale of the Bharatas, the great history of the Kuru line. But as you told this wondrous, many-meaninged story, O sinless one, an overwhelming curiosity arose in me to hear it in detail. You, venerable one, are worthy to tell it again in full; for hearing the great history of my ancestors, I cannot be satisfied. Not small was the cause for which the Pandavas, knowing dharma, slew enemies who seemed unslayable, and are for that praised by men. Why did those tigers among men, though mighty and blameless, endure the persecutions of the wicked? How did Vrikodara (Bhima), possessed of the strength of ten thousand elephants and mighty of arm, though tormented, restrain his wrath, O best of the twice-born? How did that Draupadi-Krishna, tormented by the wicked, though she could have, chaste as she was, not burn the sons of Dhritarashtra with her terrible gaze? How did the two Parthas (Yudhishthira and Bhima) and the two sons of Madri, having endured the lawlessness of the dicing match, follow the tiger among men who had been deceived by the wicked? How did the best of those who uphold dharma, the son of Dharma, Yudhishthira who knows dharma, endure the greatest, undeserved calamity? How did that Pandava, Dhananjaya, whose charioteer was Krishna, alone, striking with his arrows, send all the many hosts to the world of the fathers? Tell me all this, as it happened, O rich in austerity — and whatever those great warriors did in each place.”
e5a5577be6ab · publicado 12 jul 2026, 15:23:57 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
Here Janamejaya, having heard the brief summary, longs for the full telling — and his questions outline the epic's central moral riddles. It is striking that what most astonishes the king is not the Pandavas' strength but their forbearance: how did mighty Bhima restrain his wrath? How did Draupadi not incinerate her tormentors? How did righteous Yudhishthira bear the undeserved? Here it becomes clear that the epic's true valor lies not in the might of weapons but in self-mastery: those most capable of destroying their enemies choose forbearance (kshama) for the sake of dharma and a given word. This is the greatest feat of all — to hold righteous anger in check until dharma's hour has struck. Note, too, that the listener “cannot be satisfied” — a sign that sacred narrative breeds not satiety but a growing thirst for the good. So the scripture prepares us to attend not out of curiosity about battles, but to grasp the mystery of righteous forbearance and the providence that governs destinies.