Shloka 5
Kāmyake Pāṇḍavānāṃ Bhojana-vyavasthā
Provisioning and Welfare in the Kāmyaka Forest
कि त्वस्य सुकृतं कर्म के लोका वै विनिर्जिता: । स एवमनुसम्प्राप्त: स्थानं देवनमस्कृतम्,“इनका पुण्य-कर्म क्या है? इन्होंने किन-किन लोकोंपर विजय पायी है? किस पुण्यके प्रभावसे इन्होंने यह देववन्दित स्थान प्राप्त किया है?'
kiṁ tv asya sukṛtaṁ karma ke lokā vai vinirjitāḥ | sa evam anusamprāptaḥ sthānaṁ devanamaskṛtam ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “But what meritorious deed has he performed? What worlds has he truly conquered? By the power of what virtue has he attained this place—revered even by the gods?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the Mahābhārata’s ethical logic that exalted status—an abode honored even by the gods—must be grounded in sukṛta-karma (meritorious action). It frames spiritual attainment as the fruit of virtue and disciplined conduct rather than mere power or chance.
As narrator, Vaiśaṃpāyana voices a pointed inquiry about a person who has reached a god-revered station: what good deeds enabled this, and what ‘worlds’ (realms or attainments) were ‘conquered’—i.e., won through merit. The questions set up an explanation of the person’s past virtues and the moral causality behind the attainment.