Shloka 4
Raibhya-putrayoḥ satra-vṛttāntaḥ — The Satra Episode of Raibhya’s Sons
Parāvasu and Arvāvasu
अथावलोककोडगच्छद् गृहानेक: परावसु: । कृष्णाजिनेन संवीतं ददर्श पितरं वने,कुन्तीनन्दन! पिताकी आज्ञा पाकर वे दोनों भाई राजाके यज्ञमें चले गये। आश्रममें केवल रैभ्य मुनि तथा उनके पुत्र परावसुकी पत्नी रह गयी। एक दिन घरकी देख-भाल करनेके लिये परावसु अकेले ही आश्रमपर आये। उस समय उन्होंने काले मृगचर्मसे ढके हुए अपने पिताको वनमें देखा
athāvalokakoḍagacchad gṛhānekaḥ parāvasuḥ | kṛṣṇājinena saṃvītaṃ dadarśa pitaraṃ vane, kuntīnandana! pitākī ājñā pākar ve donoṃ bhāī rājāke yajñameṃ cale gaye | āśramameṃ kevalaṃ raibhya muni tathā unke putra parāvasukī patnī rah gayī | eka dina gharakī dekh-bhāl karaneke liye parāvasu akelā hī āśramapar āye | usa samaya unhoṃne kāle mṛgacarmase ḍhake hue apane pitāko vanameṃ dekhā
Then Parāvasu, coming alone to look after the household, went to the hermitage. There in the forest he saw his father, wrapped in a black antelope-skin. O son of Kuntī, after receiving their father’s command, the two brothers had gone to the king’s sacrifice; only the sage Raibhya and Parāvasu’s wife remained at the āśrama. This sight sets the stage for a moral tension between obedience to elders, the duties of household management, and the dangers of misrecognition and rash judgment in a sacred setting.
लोगश उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds dharma in everyday conduct: even in sacred spaces like an āśrama, one must act with restraint and clarity. Obedience to a father’s command and participation in ritual duty are important, but so is careful perception—misreading a situation can lead to grave ethical failure.
After the two brothers depart for a king’s sacrifice on their father’s instruction, Parāvasu later returns alone to manage the hermitage. In the forest he sees his father covered with a black antelope-skin, a detail that signals ascetic context and foreshadows potential misunderstanding in what follows.