Shloka 27
Rathaghoṣa–Saṃjñāna: Damayantī’s Inference and the Dispatch of the Envoy (Āraṇyaka-parva, Adhyāya 71)
शालिहोत्रो5थ किं नु स्याद्धयानां कुलतत्त्ववित् मानुषं समनुप्राप्तो वपु: परमशोभनम्,“अथवा घोड़ोंकी जाति और उनके विषयकी ताच्विक बातें जाननेवाले ये आचार्य शालिहोत्र तो नहीं हैं, जो परम सुन्दर मानव शरीर धारण करके यहाँ आ पहुँचे हैं
śālihotro ’tha kiṃ nu syād hayānāṃ kulatattvavit | mānuṣaṃ samanuprāpto vapuḥ paramaśobhanam ||
Ṛtupārṇa said: “Could this be Śālihotra—the knower of horses, their lineages, and their true characteristics—who has arrived here in a human form of surpassing beauty?”
ऋचुपर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights discernment and respect for specialized knowledge: true expertise (here, in the science of horses and their lineages) is so distinctive that it invites recognition even when the expert appears in an unexpected form.
King Ṛtupārṇa, encountering an exceptionally capable person connected with horses, wonders aloud whether this might be the famed authority Śālihotra, now appearing in a splendid human body.