Shloka 17
Adhyāya 32: Tāpasānāṃ Darśanaṃ — Ascetics Seek to Identify the Pāṇḍavas
गतेषु तेषु सर्वेषु सलिलस्थो महामुनि:
vaiśampāyana uvāca | gateṣu teṣu sarveṣu salilastho mahāmuniḥ |
Vaiśampāyana said: When all of them had vanished from sight, the great sage—standing in the water—addressed those widowed Kṣatriya women for the welfare of the Kauravas. He said, “O noble ladies! Whichever among you are faithful and wish to go to the world of your own husbands, cast off indolence and at once plunge into the waters of the Gaṅgā.” Hearing his words, those devoted, chaste women—after taking the permission of their father-in-law Dhṛtarāṣṭra—entered the waters of the Gaṅgā.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames steadfastness to one’s chosen dharma as requiring promptness and inner resolve: those who seek reunion with their husbands are urged to abandon inertia, act decisively, and do so with due respect for elders and social order (seeking Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s permission).
After others disappear from view, Vyāsa stands in the Gaṅgā and instructs the widowed Kṣatriya women that any who wish to reach their husbands’ realm should immediately plunge into the river. Trusting him, and after obtaining Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s consent, the devoted women enter the Gaṅgā.