Shloka 22
अश्वमेध-उपदेशः तथा मरुत्त-यज्ञ-धन-प्रसङ्गः
Counsel on Aśvamedha and the Marutta-treasure episode
युधिछिर उवाच कथं यज्ञे मरुत्तस्य द्रविणं तत् समाचितम् | कम्मिंश्व काले स नूपो बभूव वदतां वर,युधिष्ठिरने पूछा--वक्ताओंमें श्रेष्ठ महर्षे! मरुत्तके यज्ञमें इतने धनका संग्रह किस प्रकार किया गया था तथा वे महाराज मरुत्त किस समय इस पृथ्वीपर प्रकट हुए थे?
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca kathaṃ yajñe maruttasya draviṇaṃ tat samācitam | kasmiṃś ca kāle sa nṛpo babhūva vadatāṃ vara ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “How was that wealth amassed for King Marutta’s sacrifice? And in what period did that king appear upon the earth? O best of speakers, tell me.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse models dhārmic inquiry: a righteous king seeks to understand not only the grandeur of a sacrifice but also the legitimate means by which its wealth was gathered and the historical context of the ruler—linking ritual splendor to ethical sourcing and proper knowledge.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a revered narrator (‘best of speakers’) and asks two connected questions about King Marutta: how the immense resources for Marutta’s yajña were accumulated, and when Marutta lived/appeared on earth, setting up an explanatory account.