Shloka 9
Kṛṣṇa at Duryodhana’s House: Refusal of Hospitality and Departure to Vidura (कृष्णस्य धार्तराष्ट्रनिवेशनगमनम्)
अपश्यन्तश्न॒ पितरौ कथमूषुर्महावने । “तात! वे बचपनमें ही पिताके प्यारसे वंचित हो गये थे। मैंने ही सदा उनका लालन- पालन किया। मेरे पुत्र सिंह, व्याप्र और हाथियोंसे भरे हुए उस विशाल वनमें कैसे रहे होंगे? माता-पिताको न देखते हुए उन्होंने उस महान् वनमें किस प्रकार निवास किया होगा? ।।
apasyantaś ca pitarau katham ūṣur mahāvane | “tāta! te bacapanam eva pitṛ-snehena vañcitā abhavan | mayā eva sadā teṣāṁ lālana-pālanaṁ kṛtam | mama putrāḥ siṁha-vyāghra-hasti-saṅkule tasmin viśāle vane kathaṁ nivasanty abhavan? mātā-pitarau na paśyantaḥ te mahāvane kathaṁ vāsaṁ kṛtavantaḥ?” || śaṅkha-dundubhi-nirdhoṣi-madājya-veṇu-niśvanaiḥ
Dijo Vaiśaṃpāyana: «Sin ver a su padre y a su madre, ¿cómo pudieron vivir en aquel gran bosque? “¡Hijo querido! Desde la niñez se vieron privados del afecto de un padre; yo sola los crié y los protegí siempre. ¿Cómo habrán soportado mis hijos esa vasta espesura, poblada de leones, tigres y elefantes? Sin contemplar a sus padres, ¿cómo habrán hecho morada en aquella selva poderosa?”»—y el bosque resonó con el estruendo de caracolas y timbales, con el bramido de trompetas y el silbo de las flautas.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical weight of parental responsibility and compassion: deprivation of parental presence is portrayed as a profound hardship, and the caregiver’s duty (lālana-pālana) becomes a moral claim that intensifies grief and concern for the vulnerable.
Vaiśampāyana reports a lament: someone reflects that the children, deprived of a father’s love and unable to see their parents, must have suffered terribly while living in a vast forest filled with dangerous animals; the scene is framed amid loud martial or ceremonial sounds—conches, drums, and wind instruments—suggesting a charged public setting.