Shloka 189

समन्तपञ्चक-आख्यानम् तथा अक्षौहिणी-प्रमाणनिर्णयः

Samantapañcaka Narrative and the Measure of an Akṣauhiṇī

Devanagari script

अमोक्षयद्‌ यत्र चैन॑ प्रश्नानुक्त्वा युधिष्ठिर: । काम्यकागमन चैव पुनस्तेषां महात्मनाम्‌,धर्मराज युधिष्ठिरने अजगर-वेशधारी नहुषके प्रश्नोंका उत्तर देकर भीमसेनको छुड़ा लिया। इसके बाद महानुभाव पाण्डव पुन: काम्यकवनमें आये

Transliteration

amokṣayad yatra caiva praśnān uktvā yudhiṣṭhiraḥ | kāmyakāgamanam caiva punas teṣāṃ mahātmanām |

Translation

Là, Yudhiṣṭhira, après avoir répondu aux questions, obtint la délivrance (de son frère). Ensuite, ces hommes à l’âme grande revinrent de nouveau à la forêt de Kāmyaka. L’épisode souligne que l’attachement inébranlable au dharma—exprimé par une parole vraie et lucide, et par la maîtrise de soi—devient protection et salut même au cœur du péril.

Word by Word

अमोक्षयत्released, set free

यत्रwhere

चand

एनम्him

प्रश्नान्questions

उक्त्वाhaving said/answered

युधिष्ठिरःYudhiṣṭhira

काम्यकागमनम्the coming to Kāmyaka (forest)

चand

एवindeed, just

पुनःagain

तेषाम्of them

महात्मनाम्of the great-souled (ones)

Speaker

राम उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Kāmyaka forest

Pāṇḍavas (implied by 'teṣām mahātmanām')

Bhīmasena (from the accompanying narrative note)

Nahūṣa (Ajagara-veśa; from the accompanying narrative note)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dharma is upheld not only by action but by disciplined, truthful, and wise speech: Yudhiṣṭhira’s correct answering of questions becomes the ethical instrument that protects others and restores order.

What is happening in the narrative?

After Yudhiṣṭhira answers the questions posed in that episode (connected in the tradition with Nahūṣa in serpent-like guise), he brings about the release of his brother (Bhīma), and then the Pāṇḍavas return once more to the Kāmyaka forest.