Shloka 17
Takṣaka’s agency, Parīkṣit’s rites, and Janamejaya’s enthronement (वैयासिक परम्परा-प्रसङ्गः)
परिश्रान्त: पिपासार्त आससाद मुनि वने । गवां प्रचारेष्वासीनं वत्सानां मुखनि:सृतम्,उन्हें बड़ी थकावट आ गयी। वे प्याससे व्याकुल हो उठे और इसी दशामें वनमें शमीक मुनिके पास आये। वे मुनि गौओंके रहनेके स्थानमें आसनपर बैठे थे और गौओंका दूध पीते समय बछड़ोंके मुखसे जो बहुत-सा फेन निकलता, उसीको खा-पीकर तपस्या करते थे। राजा परीक्षितने कठोर व्रतका पालन करनेवाले उन महर्षिके पास बड़े वेगसे आकर पूछा। पूछते समय वे भूख और थकावटसे बहुत आतुर हो रहे थे और धनुषको उन्होंने ऊपर उठा रखा था। वे बोले--'ब्रह्मन! मैं अभिमन्युका पुत्र राजा परीक्षित् हूँ। मेरे बाणोंसे विद्ध होकर एक मृग कहीं भाग निकला है। क्या आपने उसे देखा है?” मुनि मौन-व्रतका पालन कर रहे थे, अतः उन्होंने राजाको कुछ भी उत्तर नहीं दिया
pariśrāntaḥ pipāsārta āsasāda munir vane | gavāṃ pracāreṣv āsīnaṃ vatsānāṃ mukhaniḥsṛtam ||
Exhausted and tormented by thirst, he came upon a sage in the forest. The sage was seated in the cattle-grazing enclosure, sustaining his austerity by taking what flowed from the calves’ mouths as they drank milk. In this setting, the episode frames a moral tension: a king driven by urgency and bodily distress approaches a vow-bound ascetic whose silence is itself a discipline, setting the stage for a clash between royal impatience and ascetic restraint.
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse prepares a dharmic dilemma: bodily urgency and royal authority can provoke impatience, while an ascetic’s vow (such as silence) may appear unresponsive. The ethical lesson that follows in the episode is to restrain anger and entitlement, and to recognize that vows and disciplines have moral force even when they frustrate immediate desires.
A person—described as exhausted and thirsty—approaches a sage in the forest, finding him seated in a cattle enclosure and living austerely on what comes from calves’ mouths while they drink. This scene introduces the encounter that will escalate when the king seeks information and the vow-bound sage does not respond.