Shloka 5
राजसूयविचारः — Deliberation on the Rajasuya and the Summoning of Kṛṣṇa
शक्रस्य तु सभायां तु देवा: संकीर्तिता मुने । उद्देशतश्न गन्धर्वा विविधाक्ष महर्षय:
śakrasya tu sabhāyāṃ tu devāḥ saṃkīrtitā mune | uddeśataś ca gandharvā vividhākṣā maharṣayaḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O sage, in your account of Śakra’s (Indra’s) assembly, you have chiefly enumerated the gods. Only in brief have you indicated the presence of certain Gandharvas of varied appearance and a few great seers. Tell me more fully about those who were there.”
युधिछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse models disciplined inquiry: a righteous king listens carefully, notices imbalance or incompleteness in a report, and respectfully asks a sage for fuller detail—showing that governance and dharma rely on attentive hearing (śravaṇa) and precise understanding.
After hearing about Indra’s splendid court, Yudhiṣṭhira observes that the sage’s description focused mainly on the gods and only briefly mentioned Gandharvas and great seers; he therefore requests a more complete account of the other eminent beings present in that assembly.