Shloka 6
Gautama–Śakra Saṃvāda: Karma, Loka-bheda, and the Restoration of the Elephant
पूर्वकालमें गौतम नामवाले एक ब्राह्मण थे, जिनका स्वभाव बड़ा कोमल था। वे मनको वशमें रखनेवाले और जितेन्द्रिय थे। उन व्रतधारी मुनिने विशाल वनमें एक हाथीके बच्चेको अपने माताके बिना बड़ा कष्ट पाते देखकर उसे कृपापूर्वक जिलाया। दीर्घकालके पश्चात् वह हाथी बढ़कर अत्यंत बलवान् हो गया ।।
pūrvakāle gautama-nāmā brāhmaṇa āsīt, yasya svabhāvaḥ atīva komalaḥ; sa manaḥ-saṃyamī jitendriyaś ca. sa vratadhārī muniḥ vipule vane mātṛ-vihīnaṃ hasti-śiśuṃ mahā-duḥkhaṃ prāpya paśyan dayayā taṃ ajīvayat. dīrgha-kālāt sa hastī vardhitvā atīva balavān abhavat. taṃ prabhinnaṃ mahānāgaṃ prasnutaṃ parvatopamam dhṛtarāṣṭrasya rūpeṇa śakro jagrāha hastinam.
Bhishma said: “In former times there lived a brahmin named Gautama, gentle by nature, self-controlled in mind and senses. A vow-observing sage, he once saw in a vast forest a young elephant suffering greatly without its mother; moved by compassion, he sustained it and kept it alive. After a long time the elephant grew into a mighty, powerful beast. When it came into musth, streams of ichor flowed from its temples like water trickling from a mountain. Then Indra, assuming the form of King Dhritarashtra, took that elephant into his own possession.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Compassion and self-discipline are praised, yet the episode also warns that virtue can be tested by deception: one must pair kindness with discernment, recognizing that outcomes may be shaped by forces beyond ordinary appearances.
Gautama, a gentle and self-controlled brahmin, rescues and raises a motherless elephant calf in the forest. Years later the elephant becomes huge and enters musth. At that point Indra, disguised as King Dhritarashtra, comes and takes the elephant, initiating a morally charged turn in the story.