Shloka 14
तस्य गत्वा पद राजन्नासाद्य च महामृगम् । अन्निहोत्र न लुप्पेत तदानयत पाण्डवा:,“महाराज युधिष्ठिर! तथा वीर पाण्डवो। तुम सब लोग उसके पदचिह्लोंको देखते हुए उस महामृगके पास पहुँचो और वे दोनों काष्ठ ले आओ, जिससे मेरा अग्निहोत्रकर्म लुप्त न हो'
tasya gatvā pada rājann āsādya ca mahāmṛgam | agnihotraṁ na luppeta tad ānayata pāṇḍavāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O King! Follow its tracks, reach that great deer, and bring it back, O Pāṇḍavas, so that my agnihotra rite may not lapse.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharma as the protection of obligatory rites: even in hardship, one should act to prevent the lapse of sacred daily duties (agnihotra), treating action as service to order rather than personal desire.
A speaker instructs the Pāṇḍavas, addressing the king, to follow the animal’s footprints, reach the great deer, and bring it back so that the agnihotra ritual can continue without interruption.