Shloka 10
Vainya-Aśvamedhe Atri–Gautama–Sanatkumāra-Nirṇaya
Vainya’s Sacrifice and the Settlement of a Dharmic Dispute
क्रौज्चहंससमाकीर्णा शरत् प्रमुदिताभवत् । रूढकक्षवनप्रस्था प्रसन्नजलनिम्नगा,तत्पश्चात् आनन्दमयी शरद्-ऋतुका शुभागमन हुआ। क्रौज्च और हंस आदि पक्षी चारों ओर विचरने लगे। वनोंमें और पर्वतीय शिखरोंपर कास, कुश आदि बहुत बढ़ गये थे। नदियोंका जल स्वच्छ हो गया। आकाश निर्मल होनेसे नक्षत्रोंका आलोक और उज्ज्वल हो उठा। सब ओर मृग और पक्षी किलोल करने लगे। महात्मा पाण्डवोंके लिये यह शरद्-ऋतु अत्यन्त सुखदायिनी थी
vaiśampāyana uvāca | krauñcahaṃsasamākīrṇā śarat pramuditābhavat | rūḍhakakṣavanaprasthā prasannajalanimnagā ||
Vaiśampāyana said: When autumn arrived, it became a season of gladness. The landscape was filled with krauñca-cranes and swans; the uplands and forest-slopes were overgrown with fresh kāśa grass and other growth; and the rivers ran with clear, tranquil waters. In this purified, bright season—when the sky is limpid and living creatures move about joyfully—autumn proved especially comforting to the great-souled Pāṇḍavas during their forest life, offering a brief moral respite amid hardship.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the natural order (ṛtu-cakra, the cycle of seasons) brings clarity and renewal: clear waters, bright skies, and joyful creatures. Ethically, it suggests endurance in adversity—external harmony can restore inner steadiness, offering the righteous (like the Pāṇḍavas) moments of peace even during exile.
The narrator describes the onset of autumn in the forest: birds like cranes and swans abound, vegetation has grown thick on forest tracts and uplands, and rivers run clear. This seasonal change is presented as especially pleasant and heartening for the Pāṇḍavas living in hardship.