Shloka 18
Adhyāya 32: Tāpasānāṃ Darśanaṃ — Ascetics Seek to Identify the Pāṇḍavas
धर्मशीलो महातेजा: कुरूणां हितकृत् तथा । ततः प्रोवाच ता: सर्वा: क्षत्रिया निहतेश्वरा:
dharmaśīlo mahātejāḥ kurūṇāṃ hitakṛt tathā | tataḥ provāca tāḥ sarvāḥ kṣatriyā nihateśvarāḥ ||
वैशम्पायन बोले—तब वह महात्मा, महातेजस्वी, धर्मशील और कुरुओं के हित में प्रवृत्त महामुनि (व्यास) जल में ही स्थित रहकर, जिनके स्वामी मारे जा चुके थे, उन सब क्षत्रिय स्त्रियों से बोले। उन्होंने उनके शोक को धर्म में स्थिर कर, उन्हें वांछित मार्ग दिखाया और पति-लोक की प्राप्ति के लिए उन्हें उपदेश दिया।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds dharmic leadership in a time of collective grief: a righteous, luminous guide acts for the welfare of the Kuru community by giving purposeful counsel to those devastated by war, redirecting sorrow toward a disciplined, value-guided course.
After the destruction of the Kuru lords, the widowed Kṣatriya women are addressed by a dharma-centered, radiant figure who speaks to them as a group, setting the stage for their subsequent action described in the surrounding passage (their wish to follow their husbands’ path and the ritual act connected with the river).