Shloka 32
वंशानुकीर्तनम् — Genealogical Recitation from Dakṣa to Yayāti and the Establishment of the Paurava Line
ध्वजिनीमश्वसम्बाधां पदातिगजसंकुलाम् । अवस्थाप्य वनद्वारि सेनामिदमुवाच स:
dhvajinīm aśva-sambādhāṁ padāti-gaja-saṅkulām | avasthāpya vana-dvāri senām idam uvāca saḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Having halted the army at the entrance to the forest—an army dense with horses, crowded with foot-soldiers and elephants, and marked by its standards—he then spoke these words. The scene underscores disciplined restraint: even a formidable force is deliberately checked at a threshold, suggesting order and forethought before entering a liminal, potentially unruly space like the forest.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in contexts of power and conflict, effective leadership is shown through restraint and orderly conduct—halting and arranging one’s forces before crossing into uncertain terrain symbolizes deliberation, discipline, and responsibility.
The narrator describes a leader stopping a bannered army—crowded with horses, infantry, and elephants—at the forest entrance, and then beginning to address the troops or companions with a speech that follows.