Shloka 26
अध्याय ८ — शल्यस्य सत्कारः, वरदानं, पाण्डवसमागमश्च (Śalya’s Reception, the Boon, and Meeting the Pāṇḍavas)
समेत्य च महाबाहु: शल्य: पाण्डुसुतैस्तदा । पाद्यमर्घ्य च गां चैव प्रत्यगृह्नाद् यथाविधि
sametya ca mahābāhuḥ śalyaḥ pāṇḍusutais tadā | pādyam arghyaṃ ca gāṃ caiva pratyagṛhṇād yathāvidhi ||
Entonces Śalya, el de poderosos brazos, tras encontrarse con los hijos de Pāṇḍu, aceptó—conforme al debido rito—el agua para lavar los pies, la ofrenda de honor (arghya) y también una vaca. La escena subraya la fuerza vinculante de la hospitalidad y la corrección ritual, por la cual se reconocen formalmente los lazos y las obligaciones.
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharma expressed as proper hospitality and ritual decorum: honoring a guest with prescribed offerings creates and confirms social bonds and obligations, and accepting them signifies recognition of that relationship.
Śalya meets the Pāṇḍavas and, following customary procedure, receives the guest-honoring items—pādya, arghya, and a cow—marking a formal, ritually sanctioned reception.