Shloka 1
Kuntī–Sūrya-saṃvāda: Autonomy, Reputation, and the Promise of Karṇa
मार्कण्डेयजी कहते हैं--युधिष्ठिर! उन दोनों भाई श्रीराम और लक्ष्मणको पृथ्वीपर पड़े देख रावणकुमार इन्द्रजितने जिनके लिये देवताओंका वर प्राप्त था, उन बाणोंद्वारा उन्हें सब ओरसे बाँध लिया
Mārkaṇḍeya uvāca—Yudhiṣṭhira! tau ubhau bhrātarau Śrīrāma-Lakṣmaṇau pṛthivyāṃ patitau dṛṣṭvā Rāvaṇa-putra Indrajit, devatābhyo labdha-varaiḥ taiḥ bāṇaiḥ, tābhyāṃ sarvataḥ bandhanaṃ cakāra.
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “O Yudhiṣṭhira, seeing the two brothers—Śrī Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa—fallen upon the earth, Indrajit, the son of Rāvaṇa, bound them on every side with those arrows for which he had obtained a boon from the gods.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the righteous can face overpowering adversity when opponents wield extraordinary, divinely sanctioned powers; dharma is tested not only by victory but by steadfastness and restraint amid suffering and apparent defeat.
Mārkaṇḍeya narrates to Yudhiṣṭhira an episode from the Rāma story: Indrajit, empowered by boons, uses special arrows to bind Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa as they lie fallen on the battlefield, tightening the crisis before their eventual recovery.