Shloka 18
Baka Dālbhya at Avakīrṇa-tīrtha: Rāṣṭra-kṣaya and Release through Prasāda (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 40)
निर्ययौ नगराच्चापि चतुरज्भबलान्वित: । स गत्वा दूरमध्वानं वसिष्ठाश्रममभ्ययात्,तब वे चतुरंगिणी सेना लेकर नगरसे निकल पड़े और दूरतकका रास्ता तय करके वसिष्ठके आश्रमके पास जा पहुँचे
niryayau nagarāccāpi catur-aṅga-balānvitaḥ | sa gatvā dūram adhvānaṃ vasiṣṭhāśramam abhyayāt ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Then he set out from the city, accompanied by a complete fourfold army. Having traveled a long stretch of road, he approached the hermitage of Vasiṣṭha.
वैशग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the dharmic pattern in epic narrative: even amid royal power and military force, a ruler’s course is ideally guided by approaching a rishi’s āśrama—symbolizing submission of might to wisdom and ethical counsel.
A principal figure departs the city with a full fourfold army and, after traveling a long distance, arrives near the hermitage of the sage Vasiṣṭha, indicating a transition from the urban-political arena to a sacred space associated with guidance and restraint.