Vāraṇāvata-prasaṃsā and the Pāṇḍavas’ Departure (वरणावत-प्रशंसा तथा पाण्डव-प्रयाणम्)
संस्मरन् संगमं चैव वचन चैव तस्य तत् | ततो द्रुपदमागम्य सखिपूर्वमहं प्रभो,उस समय मुझे द्रुपदकी मैत्री और उनकी कही हुई पूर्वोक्त बातोंका बारंबार स्मरण हो आता था। तदनन्तर अपने पहलेके सखा द्रुपदके पास पहुँचकर मैंने कहा--“नरश्रेष्ठ! मुझ अपने मित्रको पहचानो तो सही।' प्रभो! मैं ट्रपदके पास पहुँचनेपर उनसे मित्रकी ही भाँति मिला
saṃsmaran saṅgamaṃ caiva vacanaṃ caiva tasya tat | tato drupadam āgamya sakhipūrvam ahaṃ prabho |
Remembering again and again both our earlier meeting and the words he had spoken then, I went to Drupada—my former friend. On reaching him I said, “O best of men, recognize me, your friend.” Thus, having come to Drupada, I approached him in the manner of a friend—seeking the renewal of an old bond and the moral claim that friendship creates.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
The verse highlights the ethical weight of prior relationships and spoken commitments: remembering an earlier meeting and words spoken, one appeals to friendship as a moral bond that ought to be recognized and honored.
The narrator reports that, recalling a past encounter and Drupada’s earlier words, he goes to Drupada—once his friend—and asks him to recognize him as a friend, approaching him with the expectations and intimacy of former friendship.