Shloka 13
Śuka’s Guṇa-Transcendence and Vyāsa’s Consolation (शुकगति-वर्णनम्)
राजा तस्या: परं दृष्टवा सौकुमार्य वपुस्तदा | केयं कस्य कुतो वेति बभूवागतविस्मय:
rājā tasyāḥ paraṃ dṛṣṭvā saukumāryaṃ vapus tadā | keyaṃ kasya kuto veti babhūvāgatavismayaḥ ||
Bhishma said: Seeing her exceedingly delicate and graceful form, King Janaka was struck with wonder. Within himself he began to reflect: “Who is she? To whom does she belong? From where has she come?”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a ruler’s immediate impulse toward careful inquiry when confronted with the extraordinary. Wonder is not treated as mere fascination; it becomes the starting point for discernment—asking identity, affiliation, and origin before forming judgment or taking action.
Bhishma narrates that King Janaka sees a woman of remarkable delicacy and beauty. Overcome with astonishment, Janaka internally questions who she is, whose she is, and where she has come from.