Shloka 113
अनुक्रमणिकाध्यायः (Anukramaṇikā Adhyāya) — Invocation, Narrator Frame, and Textual Scope
मृगव्यवायनिधनात् कृच्छां प्राप स आपदम् | जन्मप्रभृति पार्थानां तत्राचारविधिक्रम:,एक दिन उन्होंने मृगरूपधारी महर्षिको मैथुनकालमें मार डाला। इससे वे बड़े भारी संकटमें पड़ गये (ऋषिने यह शाप दे दिया कि स्त्री-सहवास करनेपर तुम्हारी मृत्यु हो जायगी), यह संकट होते हुए भी युधिष्ठिर आदि पाण्डवोंके जन्मसे लेकर जातकर्म आदि सब संस्कार वनमें ही हुए और वहीं उन्हें शील एवं सदाचारकी रक्षाका उपदेश हुआ
mṛgavyavāya-nidhanāt kṛcchrāṃ prāpa sa āpadam | janma-prabhṛti pārthānāṃ tatrācāra-vidhi-kramaḥ |
Because he killed a great sage who had assumed the form of a deer at the time of mating, he fell into a grievous calamity. Yet, from the very birth of the Pārthas, their rites of passage—beginning with the birth-ceremony and other prescribed sacraments—were carried out in the forest, and there they were instructed in the safeguarding of character and proper conduct.
Educational Q&A
Even unintended wrongdoing—especially violence against a sage—can bring grave consequences; therefore restraint, discernment, and adherence to dharma are essential. At the same time, dharmic formation continues through prescribed saṃskāras and instruction in ācāra, shaping character even amid hardship.
Pāṇḍu kills a sage who is in deer-form during mating, which leads to a curse that he will die if he approaches his wife sexually. Despite this crisis, the Pāṇḍavas’ birth-related rites and their training in proper conduct are described as taking place in the forest.