Shloka 8
वैशम्पायन उवाच युधिष्ठिरेणैवमुक्तो मार्कण्डेयो महामुनि: । धौन्धुमारमुपाख्यानं कथयामास भारत,वैशम्पायनजीने कहा--भारत! धर्मराज युधिष्ठिरके ऐसा कहनेपर महामुनि मार्कण्डेयने धुन्धुमारकी कथा प्रारम्भ की
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: Yudhiṣṭhireṇaivam ukto Mārkaṇḍeyo mahāmuniḥ | Dhaundhumāram upākhyānaṃ kathayām āsa, Bhārata ||
Vaiśampāyana said: When Dharma-king Yudhiṣṭhira had spoken thus, the great sage Mārkaṇḍeya, addressed in that manner, began to narrate to you, O Bhārata, the legendary account of Dhaundhumāra. The scene turns from inquiry to instruction, as a sage responds to a righteous king’s question by introducing an exemplary tale meant to illuminate dharma through remembered tradition.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames dharma as something clarified through exemplary tradition: a righteous king’s inquiry is answered not merely with abstract rules, but with an instructive upākhyāna (illustrative legend) narrated by a realized sage.
After Yudhiṣṭhira speaks, Mārkaṇḍeya responds by beginning the Dhaundhumāra episode; Vaiśampāyana, as the outer narrator, signals this transition into a new embedded story.