Shloka 23
Śaṅkha–Likhita Upākhyāna: Daṇḍa, Confession, and the Purification of Kingship (शङ्ख-लिखितोपाख्यानम्)
अत्र ते राजशार्दूल वर्तयिष्ये कथामिमाम् | यद् वृत्तं पूर्वराजर्षे्हयग्रीवस्य पाण्डव,“राजसिंह पाण्डुकुमार! इस विषयमें मैं तुम्हें एक कथा सुना रहा हूँ, जो पूर्वकालवर्ती राजर्षि हयग्रीवके जीवनका वृत्तान्त है
atra te rājaśārdūla vartayiṣye kathām imām | yad vṛttaṃ pūrvarājarṣer hayagrīvasya pāṇḍava ||
Here, O tiger among kings, I shall relate to you this tale—an account of what befell the royal sage Hayagrīva in former times, O Pāṇḍava.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames an ethical instruction through itihāsa-style narration: a past royal sage’s life is presented as a model so that a ruler may grasp dharma not merely as theory but as lived conduct and consequence.
Vaiśampāyana announces that he will now tell the Pāṇḍava a specific story—an earlier account concerning the royal sage Hayagrīva—signaling a transition into an illustrative episode within the Śānti Parva’s teachings on right conduct and kingship.