Shloka 48
Pāṇḍu’s Marriages, Conquests, and Triumphal Return (पाण्डोर्विवाह-विजय-प्रत्यागमनम्)
वैशम्पायन उवाच एवमुक्क्त्वा महातेजा व्यास: सत्यवतीं तदा | शयने सा च कौसल्या शुचिवस्त्रा हालंकृता
vaiśampāyana uvāca | evam uktvā mahātejā vyāsaḥ satyavatīṃ tadā | śayane sā ca kausalyā śucivastrā alaṅkṛtā |
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは語った。かく言い終えると、光輝に満ちた大賢者ヴィヤーサはその時サティヤヴァティに告げた。「カウサリヤーに沐浴して身を清めさせ、清らかな衣をまとい、飾りを整え、寝台の上で待たせよ。」そう言うや、彼は姿を消した。その後サティヤヴァティはひそかに、奥に退いていた嫁アンビカーのもとへ赴き、ダルマにも実利にもかなう益ある言葉をもって、危急の折にふさわしい正しきことを注意深く聞くよう諭した。
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames a crisis-response ethic: when a lineage faces extinction, elders may counsel actions aimed at the greater good (artha and welfare) while still presenting them as grounded in dharma—an instance of āpaddharma, where duty is interpreted through necessity, propriety, and communal responsibility.
Vyāsa instructs Satyavatī that Kausalyā should prepare—bathed, in clean clothes, adorned—and wait in the bedchamber. After giving this directive, he disappears. Satyavatī then goes privately to Ambikā and speaks beneficial, dharma-aligned counsel, preparing her for what must be done to address the dynastic emergency.