Shloka 1
Vyāsa’s Counsel to the Concealed Pāṇḍavas; Śaṃkara’s Boon and the Predestination of Draupadī
Chapter 157
ऑपनआक्रात बछ। 2 (बकवधपर्व) षट्पञज्चाशदधिकशततमो< ध्याय: ब्राह्मणपरिवारका कष्ट दूर करनेके लिये कुन्तीकी भीमसेनसे बातचीत तथा ब्राह्मणके चिन्तापूर्ण उद्गार जनमेजय उवाच एकचक्रां गतास्ते तु कुन्तीपुत्रा महारथा: । अत ऊर्ध्व॑ द्विजश्रेष्ठ किमकुर्वत पाण्डवा:,जनमेजयने पूछा--द्विजश्रेष्ठ! कुन्तीके महारथी पुत्र पाण्डव जब एकचक्रा नगरीमें पहुँच गये, उसके बाद उन्होंने क्या किया?
Janamejaya uvāca | Ekacakrāṁ gatās te tu Kuntīputrā mahārathāḥ | Ata ūrdhvaṁ dvijaśreṣṭha kim akurvata Pāṇḍavāḥ ||
Janamejaya sprach: „O Bester der Zweimalgeborenen! Als Kuntīs Söhne—mächtige Wagenkrieger—die Stadt Ekacakrā erreicht hatten, was taten die Pāṇḍavas danach?“
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames dharmic storytelling as a moral inquiry: a king asks not for spectacle but for the next right course of action—how the Pāṇḍavas conduct themselves after reaching a place of refuge, highlighting responsibility, restraint, and ethical decision-making in adversity.
Janamejaya asks the narrator to continue the account: after the Pāṇḍavas, famed as great warriors, arrive at the city of Ekacakrā during their concealment/exile, what actions they take next—setting up the events leading into the Bakāsura (Baka) episode.