अनुक्रमणिकाध्यायः (Anukramaṇikā Adhyāya) — Invocation, Narrator Frame, and Textual Scope
मृगव्यवायनिधनात् कृच्छां प्राप स आपदम् | जन्मप्रभृति पार्थानां तत्राचारविधिक्रम:,एक दिन उन्होंने मृगरूपधारी महर्षिको मैथुनकालमें मार डाला। इससे वे बड़े भारी संकटमें पड़ गये (ऋषिने यह शाप दे दिया कि स्त्री-सहवास करनेपर तुम्हारी मृत्यु हो जायगी), यह संकट होते हुए भी युधिष्ठिर आदि पाण्डवोंके जन्मसे लेकर जातकर्म आदि सब संस्कार वनमें ही हुए और वहीं उन्हें शील एवं सदाचारकी रक्षाका उपदेश हुआ
mṛgavyavāya-nidhanāt kṛcchrāṃ prāpa sa āpadam | janma-prabhṛti pārthānāṃ tatrācāra-vidhi-kramaḥ |
لأنّه قتلَ حكيمًا عظيمًا كان قد اتّخذ هيئةَ ظبيٍ في زمن التزاوج، وقع في نازلةٍ جسيمة. ومع ذلك، فمنذ مولد أبناء پارتها أُقيمت في الغابة طقوسُهم المقرّرة—ابتداءً من شعائر الميلاد وسائر السَّمْسكارا—وهناك لُقِّنوا صونَ الخُلُق وحراسةَ السلوك القويم.
Even unintended wrongdoing—especially violence against a sage—can bring grave consequences; therefore restraint, discernment, and adherence to dharma are essential. At the same time, dharmic formation continues through prescribed saṃskāras and instruction in ācāra, shaping character even amid hardship.
Pāṇḍu kills a sage who is in deer-form during mating, which leads to a curse that he will die if he approaches his wife sexually. Despite this crisis, the Pāṇḍavas’ birth-related rites and their training in proper conduct are described as taking place in the forest.