Shloka 17
Agastya–Lopāmudrā: Marriage, Austerity, and Conditions for Conjugal Union (लोमशकथितम्)
तत्र विद्याव्रतस्नात: कौमारं व्रतमास्थित: । शमठो5कथयद् राजजन्नामूर्तरयसं गयम्,उनमें शमठ नामक एक दिद्वान् ब्राह्मण थे जो विद्याध्ययनका व्रत समाप्त करके स्नातक हो चुके थे। उन्होंने आजीवन ब्रह्मचर्यपालनका व्रत ले रखा था। राजन्! शमठने वहाँ अमूर्तरयाके पुत्र महाराज गयकी कथा इस प्रकार कही
Vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca | tatra vidyāvratasnātaḥ kaumāraṃ vratam āsthitaḥ | śamaṭho ’kathayad rājan amūrtarayasaṃ gayam ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: There was a learned brāhmaṇa named Śamaṭha who, having completed the vow of study and taken the graduate’s ritual bath, had undertaken the lifelong vow of brahmacarya. O King, Śamaṭha then recounted the tale of Gaya, the son of Amūrtaraya, as an exemplar of disciplined conduct and righteous tradition.
वैशग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the authority of disciplined learning and self-restraint: a brāhmaṇa who has completed formal study (vidyāvrata) and lives by lifelong brahmacarya becomes a credible transmitter of dharmic exemplars through narrative.
Within Vaiśaṃpāyana’s narration, a learned ascetic named Śamaṭha is introduced; he begins to tell the king the account of Gaya, son of Amūrtaraya, signaling the start of a didactic story embedded in the Vana Parva.