Shloka 20
Adhyāya 16 — Daiva, Kṣatriya-dharma, and Public Reassurance to Dhṛtarāṣṭra
श्वत्रूश्चशुरयो: कृत्वा शुश्रूषां वनवासिनो: । तपसा शोषयिष्यामि युधिष्ठिर कलेवरम्,युधिष्ठि! अब मैं अपने इन वनवासी सास-ससुरकी सेवा करके तपके द्वारा इस शरीरको सुखा डालूँगी
śvaśrūś ca śvaśurayoḥ kṛtvā śuśrūṣāṁ vanavāsinor | tapasā śoṣayiṣyāmi yudhiṣṭhira kalevaram ||
يا يودهيشثيرا، بعد أن أؤدي خدمةً مخلصة لحماتي وحماي الساكنين في الغابة، سأُذيب هذا الجسد وأُجفِّفه بالتقشّف (التَّبَس).
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse upholds a dharmic ideal where devoted service to elders (śuśrūṣā) and disciplined austerity (tapas) become a means of inner purification and detachment, especially in the aftermath of worldly upheaval.
A speaker, as reported by Vaiśaṃpāyana, declares to Yudhiṣṭhira an intention to serve the forest-dwelling in-laws and then undertake severe austerities to wither the body—signaling a turn toward ascetic withdrawal and duty-centered renunciation.