Shloka 23
Āraṇyaka-parva, Adhyāya 1 — The Pandavas’ Exit from Gajasāhvaya and the Citizens’ Lament (जनमेजयप्रश्नः; पाण्डवानां वनप्रस्थानम्)
श्रूयतां चाभिधास्यामो गुणदोषान् नरर्षभा: | शुभाशुभाधिवासेन संसर्ग: कुरुते यथा,“नरश्रेष्ठ पाण्डवो! शुभ और अशुभ आश्रयमें रहनेपर वहाँका संसर्ग मनुष्यमें जैसे गुण- दोषोंकी सृष्टि करता है, उनका हम वर्णन करते हैं, सुनिये
śrūyatāṃ cābhidhāsyāmo guṇadoṣān naraṛṣabhāḥ | śubhāśubhādhivāsena saṃsargaḥ kurute yathā ||
বৈশম্পায়নে ক’লে—হে নৰশ্ৰেষ্ঠসকল, শুনা; শুভ বা অশুভ আশ্ৰয়ত বাস কৰাৰ ফলত যিদৰে সঙ্গই মানুহৰ ভিতৰত গুণ-দোষৰ উদ্ভৱ ঘটায়, সেয়া আমি এতিয়া বৰ্ণনা কৰিম।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
A person’s character is strongly shaped by saṃsarga (association) and by the moral tone of one’s environment: dwelling amid wholesome (śubha) influences tends to cultivate guṇas (virtues), while dwelling amid unwholesome (aśubha) influences tends to generate doṣas (faults).
Vaiśampāyana signals a didactic turn in the narration: he asks the listeners (addressed as ‘best of men’) to hear an explanation of how contact with auspicious or inauspicious surroundings produces virtues and vices—setting up a moral framework for the events to be recounted.