Shloka 54
Vāraṇāvata-prasaṃsā and the Pāṇḍavas’ Departure (वरणावत-प्रशंसा तथा पाण्डव-प्रयाणम्)
अथ पिष्टोदकेनैनं लोभयन्ति कुमारका: । पीत्वा पिष्टरसं बाल: क्षीरं॑ पीत॑ मयापि च
atha piṣṭodakena enaṁ lobhayanti kumārakāḥ | pītvā piṣṭarasaṁ bālaḥ kṣīraṁ pītam mayāpi ca |
Vaiśampāyana said: Then the boys tempted him with water mixed with flour. The child, after drinking that flour-water, swelled with delight and even danced about, declaring, “I too have drunk milk.” The scene lays bare how poverty exposes innocence to ridicule and how deprivation can warp a child’s sense of dignity and sufficiency—piercing the parent who must witness it.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the ethical harm caused by poverty and social mockery: deprivation can make even a child mistake substitutes for real nourishment, while public ridicule deepens suffering. It invites compassion and critiques a society that humiliates the vulnerable rather than supporting them.
A group of boys tease a child by offering flour-water as if it were milk. The child drinks it, becomes delighted, and proclaims he has drunk milk, even dancing—showing innocence and deprivation. The episode is narrated to convey the pain and humiliation surrounding the child’s condition.