Shloka 3
Āraṇyaka-parva, Adhyāya 1 — The Pandavas’ Exit from Gajasāhvaya and the Citizens’ Lament (जनमेजयप्रश्नः; पाण्डवानां वनप्रस्थानम्)
कथं चैश्वर्यविभ्रष्टा: सहसा दुःखमेयुष: । वने विजद्रिरे पार्था: शक्रप्रतिमतेजस:,तथा जो सहसा ऐश्वर्यसे वंचित हो जानेके कारण महान् दुःखमें पड़ गये थे, उन इन्द्रके तुल्य तेजस्वी पाण्डवोंने वनमें किस प्रकार विचरण किया?
kathaṃ caiśvaryavibhraṣṭāḥ sahasā duḥkham eyuṣaḥ | vane vijadrire pārthāḥ śakrapratimatejasaḥ ||
Preguntó Janamejaya: «¿Cómo vagaron por el bosque los Pārthas—de pronto despojados de su fortuna real y hundidos en gran aflicción—siendo, no obstante, radiantes como Indra? ¿De qué modo soportaron y se condujeron allí?»
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical tension between external fortune (aiśvarya) and inner worth (tejas): even when righteous people lose power suddenly, their conduct in adversity becomes the true measure of dharma—how they endure suffering without losing dignity and moral direction.
In the frame dialogue, King Janamejaya asks the narrator to explain how the Pāṇḍavas, abruptly dispossessed of their kingdom and thrown into misery, lived and moved about in the forest during exile, despite being described as radiant and formidable like Indra.