आदि पर्व — अध्याय ८३: ययाति-इन्द्र-संवादः तथा अष्टक-प्रश्नः
Yayāti–Indra Dialogue and Aṣṭaka’s Inquiry
(एवमुक्ता: कुमारास्ते देवयान्या सुमध्यमा ।) तेडदर्शयन् प्रदेशिन्या तमेव नृपसत्तमम् | शर्मिष्ठां मातरं चैव तथा5<चख्युश्न॒ दारका:,सुन्दरी देवयानीके इस प्रकार पूछनेपर उन बालकोंने पिताका परिचय देते हुए तर्जनी अँगुलीसे उन्हीं नृपश्रेष्ठ ययातिको दिखा दिया और शर्मिष्ठाको अपनी माता बताया
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: evam uktāḥ kumārās te devayānyā sumadhyamāḥ | te ’darśayan pradeśinyā tam eva nṛpasattamam | śarmiṣṭhāṃ mātaraṃ caiva tathā ’cakḥyuḥ darakāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Thus addressed by the slender-waisted Devayānī, those boys pointed out with the forefinger that very best of kings, and the children also declared Śarmiṣṭhā to be their mother. The scene quietly discloses the moral tension of concealed lineage and the inevitable surfacing of truth within the royal household.
वैशम्पायन उवाच