Shloka 20
Jatāyu’s Resistance, Sītā’s Traces, Kabandha’s Release, and the Path to Sugrīva (Āraṇyaka-parva 263)
अस्मत्कुले महाराजो ज्येष्ठ: श्रेष्ठो युधिष्ठिर: । वने वसति धर्मात्मा भ्रातृभि: परिवारित:
asmatkule mahārājo jyeṣṭhaḥ śreṣṭho yudhiṣṭhiraḥ | vane vasati dharmātmā bhrātṛbhiḥ parivāritaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “In our lineage, the eldest and most eminent king is Yudhiṣṭhira. That righteous-souled one now dwells in the forest, surrounded by his brothers.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
True excellence in kingship is grounded in dharma: even when deprived of power and living in exile, Yudhiṣṭhira is still identified as the foremost king because righteousness, not circumstance, defines moral authority.
The narrator Vaiśampāyana points out that Yudhiṣṭhira—eldest and preeminent in the lineage—is currently living in the forest during the Pāṇḍavas’ exile, accompanied and protected by his brothers.