Shloka 5
Kāmyake Pāṇḍavānāṃ Bhojana-vyavasthā
Provisioning and Welfare in the Kāmyaka Forest
कि त्वस्य सुकृतं कर्म के लोका वै विनिर्जिता: । स एवमनुसम्प्राप्त: स्थानं देवनमस्कृतम्,“इनका पुण्य-कर्म क्या है? इन्होंने किन-किन लोकोंपर विजय पायी है? किस पुण्यके प्रभावसे इन्होंने यह देववन्दित स्थान प्राप्त किया है?'
kiṁ tv asya sukṛtaṁ karma ke lokā vai vinirjitāḥ | sa evam anusamprāptaḥ sthānaṁ devanamaskṛtam ||
«Pero ¿qué acto meritorio ha realizado? ¿Qué mundos ha conquistado en verdad? ¿Por la fuerza de qué virtud ha alcanzado este lugar, venerado incluso por los dioses?»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the Mahābhārata’s ethical logic that exalted status—an abode honored even by the gods—must be grounded in sukṛta-karma (meritorious action). It frames spiritual attainment as the fruit of virtue and disciplined conduct rather than mere power or chance.
As narrator, Vaiśaṃpāyana voices a pointed inquiry about a person who has reached a god-revered station: what good deeds enabled this, and what ‘worlds’ (realms or attainments) were ‘conquered’—i.e., won through merit. The questions set up an explanation of the person’s past virtues and the moral causality behind the attainment.