Shloka 3

Devanagari script

किमासीत्‌ पाण्डुपुत्राणां वने भोजनमुच्यताम्‌ । वानेयमथवा कृष्टमेतदाख्यातु नो भवान्‌,विप्रवर! बताइये, पाण्डवलोग वनमें क्या भोजन करते थे? जंगली फल-मूल या खेतीसे पैदा हुआ ग्रामीण अन्न? इसका आप स्पष्ट वर्णन कीजिये

Transliteration

kim āsīt pāṇḍuputrāṇāṁ vane bhojanam ucyatām | vāneyam athavā kṛṣṭam etad ākhyātu no bhavān, vipravara ||

Translation

Janamejaya preguntó: «Decidnos qué alimento tenían los hijos de Pāṇḍu mientras vivían en el bosque. ¿Era sustento silvestre—frutos y raíces—o grano producido por el cultivo? Oh, el mejor de los brāhmaṇas, explicadlo con claridad.»

Word by Word

किम्what

आसीत्was

पाण्डु-पुत्राणाम्of the sons of Pāṇḍu (the Pāṇḍavas)

वनेin the forest

भोजनम्food

उच्यताम्let it be told / please be stated

वानेयम्forest-born (wild produce)

अथवाor else

कृष्टम्cultivated (grown by tillage)

एतत्this

आख्यातुtell / declare

नःto us / for us

भवान्you (honorific)

विप्र-वरO best of Brahmins

Speaker

जनमेजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Janamejaya

Pāṇḍuputras (Pāṇḍavas)

forest (vana)

wild fruits and roots (implied by vāneyam)

cultivated grain/food (kṛṣṭam)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights dharmic concern for how one lives during exile: whether sustenance is taken from what the forest freely offers or from cultivated resources, implying questions of dependence, restraint, and rightful means of livelihood.

What is happening in the narrative?

King Janamejaya, listening to the Mahābhārata narration, asks the sage to clarify what the Pāṇḍavas ate during their forest exile—wild forest produce or cultivated grain—requesting a precise account.