Shloka 35
Kaurava Court Hears of the Pāṇḍavas’ Forest Hardship (वैचित्रवीर्यवंशीयस्य राज्ञः करुणाविचारः)
नैता: शकक््या मया द्रष्टं स्प्रष्टं वाप्पनिमित्तत: । गार्हपत्यं समाविश्य तस्मात् पश्याम्यभीक्षणश:,“मैं अकारण न तो इन्हें देख सकता हूँ और न इनका स्पर्श ही कर सकता हूँ। ऐसी दशामें यदि मैं गार्हपत्य अग्निमें प्रविष्ट हो जाऊँ तो बार-बार इनके दर्शनका अवसर पा सकता हूँ'
naitāḥ śakyā mayā draṣṭuṃ spraṣṭuṃ vāpy animittataḥ | gārhapatyaṃ samāviśya tasmāt paśyāmy abhīkṣṇaśaḥ ||
Mārkaṇḍeya sprach: „Ohne einen rechten Anlass vermag ich sie weder zu sehen noch auch nur zu berühren. Darum: Wenn ich in das Gārhapatya, das häusliche Feuer, eingehe, kann ich vielleicht immer wieder Gelegenheit gewinnen, sie zu erblicken.“
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights restraint and ritual propriety: certain encounters (seeing/touching) are not available at will, and one should seek them only through an appropriate, dharmic means—here symbolized by entering the consecrated household fire, a disciplined and sanctioned act rather than impulsive desire.
Mārkaṇḍeya explains that he cannot freely see or touch “them” without a specific occasion; to obtain repeated sight of them, he proposes entering the Gārhapatya fire, invoking the sacred fire as a gateway or ritual condition for renewed vision.