Shloka 13
Ajñātavāsa-saṅkalpaḥ — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Resolve and Dhaumya’s Exempla on Concealment
अयं ते सत्यवान् भर्ता क्षीणायु: पार्थिवात्मज: । नेष्यामि तमहं बद्ध्वा विद्धयेतन्मे चिकीर्षितम्,तेरे पति इस राजकुमार सत्यवानकी आयु समाप्त हो गयी है, अतः मैं इसे बाँधकर ले जाऊँगा। बस, मैं यही करना चाहता हूँ
ayaṃ te satyavān bhartā kṣīṇāyuḥ pārthivātmajaḥ | neṣyāmi tam ahaṃ baddhvā viddhy etan me cikīrṣitam ||
“This Satyavān—your husband, the king’s son—has reached the end of his allotted span of life. I shall bind him and take him away. Know that this is what I intend to do.”
यम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the inevitability of death when one’s allotted lifespan is exhausted, and presents Yama as the impartial executor of cosmic order. It frames mortality as a dharmic fact rather than a personal hostility, setting the ethical stage for how one responds—through truth, steadfastness, and right conduct.
Yama identifies Satyavān as the listener’s husband and a royal prince whose lifespan has ended. Declaring his intention, Yama says he will bind Satyavān and take him away—marking the moment when the soul is to be led from the mortal realm.