Shloka 3
कृष्णद्वैपायनो राजन्नज्ञातचरितं चरन् । वाराणस्यामुपातिष्ठ न्मैत्रेयं स्वैरिणीकुले,नरेश्वर! एक समयकी बात है--भगवान् श्रीकृष्ण-द्वैपायन व्यासजी गुप्तरूपसे विचरते हुए वाराणसी-पुरीमें जा पहुँचे। वहाँ मुनियोंकी मण्डलीमें बैठे हुए मुनिवर मैत्रेयजीके यहाँ वे उपस्थित हुए
kṛṣṇadvaipāyano rājann ajñātacaritaṃ caran | vārāṇasyām upātiṣṭhan maitreyaṃ svairiṇīkule naraśvara ||
Bhīṣma said: “O King, Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana (Vyāsa), wandering with his identity concealed, once arrived in Vārāṇasī. There, in the dwelling of the sage Maitreya—within the quarter associated with the Svairiṇīs—he presented himself.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ideal of humility and unobtrusive conduct: even a revered sage like Vyāsa may move incognito, approaching other sages without display. It also sets a moral-narrative tone that dharma can be explored through encounters in unexpected social spaces, not only in royal courts or forests.
Bhīṣma begins an anecdote for the king: Vyāsa, traveling in disguise, reaches Vārāṇasī and goes to the sage Maitreya’s place, described as being in the svairiṇī-kula locality. This functions as the scene-setting for the episode that follows.