Shloka 5
कुम्भकर्णवधः — Kumbhakarṇa’s Fall and the Renewal of the Engagement
आखूयाततव्यं त्वेव सर्व मुमूर्षो- मैया तुभ्यं पृष्टया धर्म एष: । न मे व्यथा विद्यते त्वद्भयं वा सम्पश्यन्त्या: सानुजं धर्मराजम्,मैं भाइयोंसहित धर्मराज युधिष्ठिरको सामने देख रही हूँ; अतः अब न मुझे दुःख है और न तेरा डर ही है। अब तू शीघ्र ही मरना चाहता है; अतः ऐसे समयमें तूने मुझसे जो कुछ पूछा है, उसका उत्तर तुझे दे देना उचित है; यही धर्म है। (अतः मैं अपने पतियोंका परिचय देती हूँ)
ākhyātavyam tv eva sarvaṁ mumūrṣo mayā tubhyaṁ pṛṣṭayā dharma eṣaḥ | na me vyathā vidyate tvad-bhayaṁ vā sampaśyantyāḥ sānujaṁ dharmarājam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “I must indeed tell you everything. Since you are eager to die and have questioned me at such a moment, it is right—this is the way of dharma—that I answer you. Seeing Dharmarāja Yudhiṣṭhira before me together with his brothers, I feel no distress, nor any fear of you. Therefore I will now identify my husbands.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
When questioned at a critical moment—especially by one facing death—dharma requires truthful and complete disclosure. The verse frames honest speech as a moral duty, strengthened by the speaker’s fearlessness upon seeing Yudhiṣṭhira and his brothers.
The narrator signals that a dying questioner has asked for information, and that it is proper to answer fully. Seeing Dharmarāja Yudhiṣṭhira with his brothers removes the speaker’s grief and fear, and the speaker proceeds to identify her husbands (a transition into introductions).