Shloka 9
युधिष्ठिर उवाच देवो वा यदि वा दैत्य उरगो वा भवान् यदि । सत्यं सर्प वचो ब्रूहि पृच्छति त्वां युधिष्ठिर: । किमर्थ च त्वया ग्रस्तो भीमसेनो भुजड़म,युधिछिरने कहा--सर्प! तुम कोई देवता हो या दैत्य अथवा वास्तवमें सर्प ही हो? सच बताओ, तुमसे युधिष्ठिर प्रश्न कर रहा है। भुजंगम! किस लिये तुमने भीमसेनको ही अपना ग्रास बनाया है?
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca devo vā yadi vā daitya urago vā bhavān yadi | satyaṃ sarpa vaco brūhi pṛcchati tvāṃ yudhiṣṭhiraḥ | kimarthaṃ ca tvayā grasto bhīmaseno bhujaṅgama ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Whether you are a god, or a demon, or truly a serpent—tell me the truth, O serpent; Yudhiṣṭhira questions you. And for what reason have you swallowed Bhīmasena, O great snake?”
युधिष्ठिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds satya (truth) and careful discernment: Yudhiṣṭhira insists on truthful self-identification before judging the being’s nature or motive, modeling ethical inquiry even under distress.
In the forest, Yudhiṣṭhira confronts a powerful serpent who has swallowed Bhīma. He questions whether it is a deva, daitya, or serpent, and demands the true reason for seizing Bhīma.