Shloka 4

Araṇi Lost to the Deer: Pāṇḍavas Pursue to Preserve Agnihotra (अरणी-हरण प्रसङ्गः)

Devanagari script

मार्कण्डेय उदाच शृणु राजन्‌ कुलस्त्रीणां महाभाग्यं युधिष्ठिर । सर्वमेतद्‌ यथा प्राप्तं सावित्रया राजकन्यया,मार्कण्डेयजी बोले--राजा युधिष्ठिर! राजकन्या सावित्रीने कुलकामिनियोंके लिये परम सौभाग्यरूप यह पातिव्रत्य आदि सब सद्गुणसमूह जिस प्रकार प्राप्त किया था, वह बताता हूँ, सुनो

Transliteration

mārkaṇḍeya uvāca śṛṇu rājan kulastrīṇāṃ mahābhāgyaṃ yudhiṣṭhira | sarvam etad yathā prāptaṃ sāvitrayā rājakanyayā ||

Translation

قال ماركاندييا: «اسمع يا ملك يودهيشثيرا عن عظيم حظّ النساء الشريفات. سأقصّ عليك كيف نالت الأميرة سافيتري كلَّ ذلك—وفاء الزوجة وثباتها، وجملة الفضائل—على وجهه كما وقع.»

Word by Word

• {'mārkaṇḍeya uvāca': 'Mārkaṇḍeya said', 'śṛṇu': 'listen (imperative)', 'rājan': 'O king (vocative)', 'kulastrīṇām': 'of women of noble lineage

• respectable married women', 'mahābhāgyam': 'great good fortune

• supreme auspiciousness', 'yudhiṣṭhira': 'Yudhiṣṭhira (addressed by name)', 'sarvam etat': 'all this (entire matter being discussed)', 'yathā': 'how

• as', 'prāptam': 'attained

• came to be', 'sāvitrayā': 'by Sāvitrī (instrumental)', 'rājakanyayā': 'by the king’s daughter

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Mārkaṇḍeya
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Sāvitrī

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames Sāvitrī as an exemplar of strī-dharma—especially pativratā (steadfast marital fidelity) and a constellation of virtues—presented as a source of ‘mahābhāgya’ (supreme auspicious fortune) for noble women, and as an ethical model worthy of attentive listening.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya begins his instruction to King Yudhiṣṭhira, inviting him to listen as he introduces the account of how the princess Sāvitrī attained renowned virtues; this serves as the opening to the Sāvitrī-upākhyāna (the episode of Sāvitrī).