Mahabharata 4.5.32 — Virata Parva, Adhyaya 5, Shloka 32
Śamī-vṛkṣe śastra-nidhāna and Entry into Virāṭa’s Capital (शमीवृक्षे शस्त्रनिधानम्)
आबद्धं शवमत्रेति गन्धमाप्राय पूतिकम् । अशीतिशतवर्षेयं माता न इति वादिन:
ābaddhaṃ śavam atreti gandham āprāya pūtikam | aśītiśatavarṣeyam mātā na iti vādinaḥ ||
قال فايشَمبايانا: «هنا جُثَّةٌ قد رُبِطَت؛ نتنُها خبيثٌ فاسدٌ ينتشر». وكانوا يقولون: «هذه أمُّنا، عمرُها مئةٌ وثمانون سنة»، فيُبيِّنون الأمر على هذا النحو. وهكذا فإن الباندافا، بعدما شدّوا جثمانًا إلى أغصان شجرة الشَّمي ليصدَّ الناسَ عنها عُفُونتُه، قدّموا هذا العذر لرعاة البقر ورعاة الغنم في الغابة، مُظهِرينه على أنه سُنَّةُ الأسرة وناموسُ الأسلاف، ثم مضَوا نحو نواحي المدينة.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights pragmatic conduct under constraint: to protect a higher duty (safeguarding their arms and maintaining incognito during exile), the Pāṇḍavas employ a socially repelling deterrent and a conventional-sounding explanation. It raises an ethical tension between truthfulness and the necessity of strategic concealment in service of dharma.
The Pāṇḍavas tie a corpse to a śamī tree so that the foul smell will keep herdsmen away, preventing discovery of what they have concealed there. When questioned, they claim it is their very old mother and that this is an ancestral custom, and then proceed toward the city area.
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