Shloka 8
Adhyāya 129 — Public Acclaim of the Pāṇḍavas and Duryodhana’s Appeal to Dhṛtarāṣṭra
आगता: सम महाभागे व्याकुलेनान्तरात्मना । इहागम्य क््व नु गतस्त्वया वा प्रेषित: क््व नु,“महाभागे! हम उसके लिये अत्यन्त व्याकुल हृदयसे यहाँ आये हैं। यहाँ आकर वह कहीं चला गया? अथवा तुमने उसे कहीं भेजा है?”
āgatāḥ sma mahābhāge vyākulenāntarātmanā | ihāgamya kva nu gatastvayā vā preṣitaḥ kva nu ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O noble lady, we have come here with hearts deeply distressed on his account. Having arrived here, where has he gone? Or have you sent him somewhere?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical seriousness of responsibility and communication: when someone is sought with urgency, one must clarify truthfully whether the person has departed on their own or has been sent away, since uncertainty intensifies distress.
A group arrives in an anxious state and addresses a noble woman, asking where the person they are seeking has gone—whether he left after coming there or whether she herself dispatched him elsewhere.