Shaunaka Asks for the Bharata

Verse 1 (1.59.1)

भृगुवंशात्प्रभृत्येव त्वया मे कीर्तितं महत् । आख्यानमखिलं तात सौते प्रीतोऽस्मि तेन ते ॥

bhṛguvaṃśātprabhṛtyeva tvayā me kīrtitaṃ mahat | ākhyānamakhilaṃ tāta saute prīto'smi tena te

You have told me, my friend, the whole great story, beginning from the line of Bhrigu. I am pleased with you for it, Sauti.

Note on the text: Corrected प्रीतोऽस्मितेन → प्रीतोऽस्मि तेन (misprint in Wikisource; the verb अस्मि had been run into the pronoun तेन, the critical edition reads prīto 'smi tena).

Verse 2 (1.59.2)

प्रक्ष्यामि चैव भूयस्त्वां यथावत्सूतनन्दन । याः कथा व्याससंपन्नास्ताश्च भूयो विचक्ष्व मे ॥

prakṣyāmi caiva bhūyastvāṃ yathāvatsūtanandana | yāḥ kathā vyāsasaṃpannāstāśca bhūyo vicakṣva me

And I shall ask you further, as is fitting, son of the sūta: tell me again the stories that came from Vyasa.

Verse 3 (1.59.3)

तस्मिन्परमदुष्पारे सर्पसत्रे महात्मनाम् । कर्मान्तरेषु यज्ञस्य सदस्यानां तथाऽध्वरे ॥

tasminparamaduṣpāre sarpasatre mahātmanām | karmāntareṣu yajñasya sadasyānāṃ tathā'dhvare

At that serpent sacrifice of the great-souled ones, so hard to bring to its end, in the pauses between the rites, among the members of the assembly at the ritual,

Verse 4 (1.59.4)

या बभूवुः कथाश्चित्रा येष्वर्थेषु यथातथम् । त्वत्त इच्छामहे श्रोतुं सौते त्वं वै प्रचक्ष्व नः ॥

yā babhūvuḥ kathāścitrā yeṣvartheṣu yathātatham | tvatta icchāmahe śrotuṃ saute tvaṃ vai pracakṣva naḥ

what wonderful stories were told, and on what subjects, exactly as they were — we wish to hear them from you, Sauti. Tell them to us.

Verse 5 (1.59.5)

कर्मान्तरेष्वकथयन्द्विजा वेदाश्रयाः कथाः । व्यासस्त्वकथयच्चित्रमाख्यानं भारतं महत् ॥

karmāntareṣvakathayandvijā vedāśrayāḥ kathāḥ | vyāsastvakathayaccitramākhyānaṃ bhārataṃ mahat

In the pauses between the rites, the brahmins told stories founded on the Vedas; but Vyasa told the wonderful great tale, the Bharata.

Verse 6 (1.59.6)

महाभारतमाख्यानं पाण्डवानां यशस्करम् । जनमेजयेन पृष्टः सन्कृष्णद्वैपायनस्तदा ॥

mahābhāratamākhyānaṃ pāṇḍavānāṃ yaśaskaram | janamejayena pṛṣṭaḥ sankṛṣṇadvaipāyanastadā

The tale of the Mahabharata, which spreads the fame of the Pandavas — which Krishna Dvaipayana, asked by Janamejaya,

Verse 7 (1.59.7)

श्रावयामास विधिवत्तदा कर्मान्तरे तु सः । तामहं विधिवत्पुण्यां श्रोतुमिच्छामि वै कथाम् ॥

śrāvayāmāsa vidhivattadā karmāntare tu saḥ | tāmahaṃ vidhivatpuṇyāṃ śrotumicchāmi vai kathām

then recited duly in the pauses of the rite — that holy story I wish to hear, told properly,

Verse 8 (1.59.8)

मनःसागरसंभूतां महर्षेर्भावितात्मनः । कथयस्व सतां श्रेष्ठ सर्वरत्नमयीमिमाम् ॥

manaḥsāgarasaṃbhūtāṃ maharṣerbhāvitātmanaḥ | kathayasva satāṃ śreṣṭha sarvaratnamayīmimām

born from the ocean of the mind of the great sage whose soul is purified. Tell me this story, O best of the good, for it is full of every kind of jewel.

Note on the text: Matches the critical edition's 1.53.34 in its first line; the second line is a variant (the critical edition reads kathayasva satāṃ śreṣṭha na hi tṛpyāmi sūtaja).

Verse 9 (1.59.9)

हन्त ते कथयिष्यामि महदाख्यानमुत्तमम् । कृष्णद्वैपायनमतं महाभारतमादितः ॥

hanta te kathayiṣyāmi mahadākhyānamuttamam | kṛṣṇadvaipāyanamataṃ mahābhāratamāditaḥ

Very well — I shall tell you the great and supreme tale, the Mahabharata, as Krishna Dvaipayana conceived it, from the beginning.

Verse 10 (1.59.10)

शृणु सर्वमशेषेण कथ्यमानं मया द्विज । शंसितुं तन्महान्हर्षो ममापीह प्रवर्तते ॥

śṛṇu sarvamaśeṣeṇa kathyamānaṃ mayā dvija | śaṃsituṃ tanmahānharṣo mamāpīha pravartate

Hear all of it, in full, as I tell it, O brahmin. To relate it, great joy rises in me too.