महाभारतः mahābhārataḥ - book-1, chapter-224, verse-22

मन्दपाल उवाच ।
ज्येष्ठः सुतस्ते कतमः कतमस्तदनन्तरः ।
मध्यमः कतमः पुत्रः कनिष्ठः कतमश्च ते ॥२२॥

22. mandapāla uvāca ,
jyeṣṭhaḥ sutaste katamaḥ katamastadanantaraḥ ,
madhyamaḥ katamaḥ putraḥ kaniṣṭhaḥ katamaśca te.

22. mandapālaḥ uvāca jyeṣṭhaḥ sutaḥ te katamaḥ katamaḥ tat
anantaraḥ madhyamaḥ katamaḥ putraḥ kaniṣṭhaḥ katamaḥ ca te

22. Mandapāla said: 'Which one is your eldest son? Which one is the one immediately after him? Which son is the middle one? And which one is your youngest?'

Words meanings summery:

• मन्दपालः (mandapālaḥ) - The sage Mandapala. (Mandapala)

• उवाच (uvāca) - he said, he spoke

• ज्येष्ठः (jyeṣṭhaḥ) - eldest, chief, best

• सुतः (sutaḥ) - son

• ते (te) - your, by you

• कतमः (katamaḥ) - which one (out of many)

• कतमः (katamaḥ) - which one (out of many)

• तत् (tat) - Referring to the eldest son mentioned previously. (that)

• अनन्तरः (anantaraḥ) - The one immediately following the eldest son in age. (next, immediate, without interval)

• मध्यमः (madhyamaḥ) - middle, central, medium

• कतमः (katamaḥ) - which one (out of many)

• पुत्रः (putraḥ) - son

• कनिष्ठः (kaniṣṭhaḥ) - youngest, smallest, junior

• कतमः (katamaḥ) - which one (out of many)

• च (ca) - and, also

• ते (te) - your, by you

Words meanings and morphology

मन्दपालः (mandapālaḥ) - The sage Mandapala. (Mandapala)

(proper noun)

Nominative, masculine, singular of mandapāla

mandapāla - Mandapala (proper name of a sage)

Note: Subject of `uvāca`.

उवाच (uvāca) - he said, he spoke

(verb)

3rd person , singular, active, past perfect (Liṭ) of vac

Perfect (Liṭ)

Root √vac (to speak), 3rd person singular, parasmaipada. Irregular perfect form.

Root: vac (class 2)

Note: Subject is Mandapala. Precedes a direct quote.

ज्येष्ठः (jyeṣṭhaḥ) - eldest, chief, best

(adjective)

Nominative, masculine, singular of jyeṣṭha

jyeṣṭha - eldest, chief, senior, best

Superlative

Superlative degree of vṛddha (old).

Root: vṛdh (class 1)

Note: Predicate adjective to an implied 'is', agreeing with `sutaḥ`.

सुतः (sutaḥ) - son

(noun)

Nominative, masculine, singular of suta

suta - son, child

Derived from √sū (to give birth).

Root: sū (class 2)

Note: Subject of the first question.

ते (te) - your, by you

(pronoun)

Genitive, singular of tvad

tvad - you (2nd person pronoun)

Note: Refers to Jaritā.

कतमः (katamaḥ) - which one (out of many)

(interrogative pronoun)

Note: Subject of the question.

कतमः (katamaḥ) - which one (out of many)

(interrogative pronoun)

Note: Subject of the question about the next eldest son.

तत् (tat) - Referring to the eldest son mentioned previously. (that)

(pronoun)

Genitive, masculine, singular of tad

tad - that, he, it

Note: Although the form `tat` is typically neuter nominative/accusative singular, here it implies a genitive relation, meaning 'next *of* that one' or 'next *to* that one', referring to the eldest son.

अनन्तरः (anantaraḥ) - The one immediately following the eldest son in age. (next, immediate, without interval)

(adjective)

Nominative, masculine, singular of anantara

anantara - next, immediate, continuous, without interval

Nañ-tatpuruṣa compound of `an` (not) + `antara` (interval).

Compound type : nañ-tatpuruṣa (an+antara)

• an – not, non-
  indeclinable
• antara – interval, space, difference, other
  noun (neuter)

Note: Predicate adjective to the implied 'is', agreeing with `katamaḥ`.

मध्यमः (madhyamaḥ) - middle, central, medium

(adjective)

Nominative, masculine, singular of madhyama

madhyama - middle, central, medium, intermediate

Derived from madhya (middle) + ma (superlative-like suffix).

Note: Predicate adjective to an implied 'is'.

कतमः (katamaḥ) - which one (out of many)

(interrogative pronoun)

Note: Subject of the question about the middle son.

पुत्रः (putraḥ) - son

(noun)

Nominative, masculine, singular of putra

putra - son, child

Note: Subject of the question about the middle son.

कनिष्ठः (kaniṣṭhaḥ) - youngest, smallest, junior

(adjective)

Nominative, masculine, singular of kaniṣṭha

kaniṣṭha - youngest, smallest, junior, least

Superlative

Superlative degree of 'kanīna' (young, small).

Note: Predicate adjective to an implied 'is'.

कतमः (katamaḥ) - which one (out of many)

(interrogative pronoun)

Note: Subject of the question about the youngest son.

च (ca) - and, also

(indeclinable)

ते (te) - your, by you

(pronoun)

Genitive, singular of tvad

tvad - you (2nd person pronoun)

Note: Refers to Jaritā.