Shloka 107
Ādi-parva Adhyāya 3 — Janamejaya’s Rite, Dhaumya’s Parīkṣā, and Uttanka’s Kuṇḍala Quest (सर्पसत्रप्रस्तावना–गुरुपरीक्षा–उत्तङ्कोपाख्यान)
स एवमुक्त: पौष्य: क्षणमात्र विमृश्योत्तड्कं प्रत्युवाच नियतं भवानुच्छिष्ट: समर तावन्न हि सा क्षत्रिया उच्छिष्टेनाशुचिना शकक््या द्रष्टं पतिव्रतात्वात्ू सैषा नाशुचेर्दर्शनमुपैतीति,उत्तंकके ऐसा कहनेपर पौष्यने एक क्षणतक विचार करके उन्हें उत्तर दिया--“निश्चय ही आप जूँठे मुँह हैं, स्मरण तो कीजिये, क्योंकि मेरी क्षत्राणी पतिव्रता होनेके कारण उच्छिष्ट-- अपवित्र मनुष्यके द्वारा नहीं देखी जा सकती हैं। आप उच्छिष्ट होनेके कारण अपवित्र हैं, इसलिये वे आपकी दृष्टिमें नहीं आ रही हैं!
sa evam uktaḥ pauṣyaḥ kṣaṇamātraṁ vimṛśyottaṅkaṁ pratyuvāca—niyataṁ bhavān ucchiṣṭaḥ; smara tāvat, na hi sā kṣatriyā ucchiṣṭenāśucinā śakyā draṣṭum; pativratātvāt sā eṣā nāśucer darśanam upaitīti.
Thus addressed, King Pauṣya reflected for a moment and replied to Uttaṅka: “Surely you are in a state of ritual impurity, having not yet cleansed your mouth after eating. Recall this yourself. My kṣatriya queen, being devoted to her husband, cannot be seen by one who is ‘ucchiṣṭa’ and therefore impure. Because you are impure, she does not come within your sight.”
राम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage underscores dharma as disciplined conduct: ritual purity (not being ucchiṣṭa) is treated as ethically and socially significant, and a pativratā wife is portrayed as protected by her chastity and household norms from the gaze of an impure outsider.
Uttaṅka seeks to see Pauṣya’s queen, but Pauṣya explains that Uttaṅka is presently ‘ucchiṣṭa’ (uncleansed after eating) and therefore impure; because the queen is a pativratā, she does not appear within the sight of such an impure person.