Shloka 19
Adhyāya 3: Indra’s Invitation and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Refusal to Abandon the Dog
Svargārohaṇa Test
पुरा द्वैतवने चासि मया पुत्र परीक्षित: । पानीयार्थे पराक्रान्ता यत्र ते भ्रातरो हता:
purā dvaitavane cāsi mayā putra parīkṣitaḥ | pānīyārthe parākrāntā yatra te bhrātaro hatāḥ ||
Dharmarāja said: “Formerly, in the Dvaitavana forest, my son, you were tested by me—when you had gone forth with resolve to fetch water, at the very place where your brothers lay slain.”
धर्मरज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse invokes a remembered ‘test’ to highlight steadiness under trial: righteous conduct is proved not in comfort but when one must act with resolve amid fear, loss, and moral pressure.
Dharmarāja addresses Parīkṣit and recalls an earlier incident in the Dvaitavana forest: Parīkṣit went to fetch water, and this moment is framed as a deliberate test by Dharmarāja, set against the grim scene where the brothers were found slain.