Shloka 5
गान्धारीपुत्रोत्पत्तिः — The Birth of Gāndhārī’s Hundred Sons (and Yuyutsu); Omens and Counsel on Succession
अनुसार्यमाणा बहुभी रक्षिभिर्भरतर्षभ । ते तस्यावसथे लोप्नं दस्यथव: कुरुसत्तम
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: anusāryamāṇā bahubhir rakṣibhir bharatarṣabha, te tasyāvasathe lopnaṃ dasyavaḥ kurusattama janamejaya; bhayāt prajā-rakṣa-senāyā āgamanāt pūrvam eva tatraiva kvacid apakrāntāḥ. teṣāṃ nilīnānāṃ rakṣiṇāṃ senā śīghram upāgamat. rājann, corān anusarantāḥ te janāḥ tapasyāyāṃ ratān taṃ maharṣiṃ dṛṣṭvā papracchuḥ—“dvijaśreṣṭha, brūhi, kena mārgeṇa corāḥ palāyitāḥ, yena vayaṃ tam eva mārgaṃ gṛhītvā tvarayā teṣāṃ paścād gacchema.”
Vaiśampāyana said: O bull among the Bharatas, many guards were in pursuit of those thieves. O best of the Kurus, O Janamejaya, the robbers, terrified, deposited the stolen goods at the hermitage of that great sage and hid nearby before the king’s protective force could arrive. When they had concealed themselves, the guards’ troop quickly reached the spot. Then the men chasing the thieves, seeing the sage absorbed in austerity, asked him: “O best of the twice-born, tell us—by which path did the thieves flee? We will take that very route and pursue them swiftly.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse sets up a classic dharma-conflict: society’s protectors seek justice, while a sage devoted to austerity is drawn into a morally charged question about truth-telling that may enable harm. It highlights how even a renunciant can be confronted by competing duties—truth, non-injury, and social order.
Robbers, chased by guards, stash stolen goods at a sage’s hermitage and hide nearby. The pursuing guards arrive and, seeing the sage, ask him which route the thieves took so they can continue the chase quickly.