Shloka 12
Saubha-nipātana: Kṛṣṇa’s Counter to Śālva’s Māyā
Book 3, Chapter 23
चकार यामप्रतिमां महात्मा सभां मयो देवसभाप्रकाशाम् | तां देवगुप्तामिव देवमायां हित्वा प्रयात: क्व नु धर्मराज:,“महामना मयदानवने देवताओंकी सभाके समान सुशोभित होनेवाली जिस अनुपम सभाका निर्माण किया था, देवताओंद्वारा रक्षित देवमायाके समान उस सभाका परित्याग करके धर्मराज युधिष्ठिर कहाँ चले जा रहे हैं?'
Vaiśampāyana uvāca |
Cakāra yāmapratimāṁ mahātmā sabhāṁ Mayo devasabhāprakāśām |
Tāṁ devaguptām iva devamāyāṁ hitvā prayātaḥ kva nu dharmarājaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: The great-souled Maya built an unequaled assembly hall, radiant like the hall of the gods. Yet, abandoning that wondrous hall—guarded as though by the gods themselves, like a divine illusion—where indeed has Dharma-rāja Yudhiṣṭhira gone?
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Worldly magnificence—even when seemingly secure and divinely protected—can be left behind when dharma demands endurance. The verse highlights the ethical gravity of Yudhiṣṭhira’s path: choosing principled suffering (exile) over attachment to royal splendor.
The narrator recalls the extraordinary hall built by Maya, comparable to the gods’ own assembly. He then asks, with wonder and lament, where Dharmarāja Yudhiṣṭhira has gone after abandoning such a marvel—pointing to the transition from royal life to the hardships of the forest.