Shloka 5
Kuntī’s Retrospective Uddharṣaṇa and Renunciatory Resolve (कुन्त्युद्धर्षण-प्रत्याख्यानम्)
तानपृच्छत् ततो राजा क्वासौ कौरववंशभूत् । पिता ज्येष्ठटो गतो5स्माकमिति बाष्पपरिप्लुत:,उस समय राजा युधिष्छठिरने उन सबको प्रणाम करके नेत्रोंमें आँसू भरकर उन सबसे पूछा--“मुनिवरो! कौरववंशका पालन करनेवाले हमारे ज्येष्ठ पिता इस समय कहाँ गये हैं?
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
tān apṛcchat tato rājā kvāsau kauravavaṁśabhūt |
pitā jyeṣṭho gato 'smākam iti bāṣpapariplutaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Then the king (Yudhiṣṭhira), his eyes flooded with tears, questioned them: “Where has our eldest father gone—he who sustained the Kuru lineage?” The query is not merely about location; it reveals the king’s filial duty and grief, and his concern for the continuity of righteous order embodied in the elder’s guardianship of the dynasty.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds dharma as reverence toward elders and responsibility to lineage: Yudhiṣṭhira’s tearful inquiry shows that righteous kingship includes honoring and seeking the welfare of senior guardians, especially when they withdraw from worldly life.
After paying respects, King Yudhiṣṭhira—overcome with emotion—asks the assembled sages/ascetics where his eldest father, the sustaining elder of the Kuru line, has gone.