Shloka 23

Devanagari script

यौ तौ कुमाराविव कार्तिकेयौ द्वावश्विनेयाविति मे वितर्क: । मुक्ता हि तस्माज्जतुवेश्मदाहा- न्मया श्रुता: पाण्डुसुता: पृथा च,“उनके साथ युगल कार्तिकेय-जैसे जो दो कुमार थे, वे अश्विनीकुमारोंके पुत्र नकुल और सहदेव रहे हैं--ऐसा मेरा अनुमान है; क्योंकि मैंने सुन रखा है कि उस लाक्षागृहके दाहसे पाण्डव और कुन्तीदेवी--सभी बचकर निकल गये थे

Transliteration

yau tau kumārāv iva kārtikeyau dvāv aśvineyāv iti me vitarkaḥ | muktā hi tasmāj jatuveśmadāhān mayā śrutāḥ pāṇḍusutāḥ pṛthā ca ||

Translation

«Et ces deux jeunes gens qui étaient avec eux—pareils à une paire de Kārttikeya—doivent être, selon mon jugement, les jumeaux fils des Aśvins, Nakula et Sahadeva. Car j’ai entendu dire que de l’incendie de cette maison de laque, les fils de Pāṇḍu, avec Pṛthā (Kuntī), s’étaient tous échappés vivants.»

Word by Word

यौwhich (two)

तौthose (two)

कुमारौtwo youths/princes

इवlike, as

कार्तिकेयौtwo (like) Kārttikeya

द्वौtwo

अश्विनेयौthe two Aśvinī-sons (Nakula and Sahadeva)

इतिthus (quotative)

मेof me, my

वितर्कःconjecture, inference

मुक्ताःfreed, escaped

हिindeed, for

तस्मात्from that

जतुवेश्मदाहात्from the burning of the lac-house

मयाby me

श्रुताःheard (by me)

पाण्डुसुताःsons of Pāṇḍu (the Pāṇḍavas)

पृथाPṛthā (Kuntī)

चand

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Kārttikeya (Skanda)

Aśvins

Nakula

Sahadeva

Pāṇḍavas (sons of Pāṇḍu)

Pāṇḍu

Pṛthā (Kuntī)

Jatuveśma (lac house)

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 prudent inference grounded in reliable testimony: identity and truth are established not by mere appearance but by reasoned judgment supported by what is known (śruti/hearsay here as received report). Ethically, it underscores resilience and the preservation of rightful heirs amid deceitful plots.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator infers that the two impressive youths seen with the group were Nakula and Sahadeva, the Aśvin-twins’ sons, because he has heard that all the Pāṇḍavas and their mother Kuntī escaped the conflagration of the lac house (jatuveśma).