Shloka 15
गान्धारीपुत्रोत्पत्तिः — The Birth of Gāndhārī’s Hundred Sons (and Yuyutsu); Omens and Counsel on Succession
धारयामास च प्राणानृषींश्व॒ समुपानयत् । शूलाग्रे तप्यमानेन तपस्तेन महात्मना
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
dhārayāmāsa ca prāṇān ṛṣīṃś ca samupānayat |
śūlāgre tapyamānena tapasā tena mahātmanā ||
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは語った。彼はなお生命の息を保ち、ただ想起するだけで諸仙を己のもとへ招き寄せた。杭の尖端にてその大いなる苦行者がかくも苛烈なタパスを行じているのを見て、他のタパスヴィンたちは畏れと痛切な思いに打たれた。彼らは夜、鳥の姿となって飛来し、各々の力に応じて神通を現しつつ、最勝の婆羅門—聖仙マーンダヴィヤ—に問いかけた。
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral tension between outward punishment and inner spiritual stature: even under extreme suffering, the ascetic maintains prāṇa and tapas, suggesting that true power lies in disciplined endurance and that such tapas compels ethical reflection in others.
Māṇḍavya, impaled on a stake, remains alive through yogic control of prāṇa and, by mental intention, summons sages. Disturbed and impressed by his austerity, the sages come at night (described as bird-forms in the surrounding narration) and question him about his condition and the extraordinary tapas.