Shloka 5
गान्धारीपुत्रोत्पत्तिः — The Birth of Gāndhārī’s Hundred Sons (and Yuyutsu); Omens and Counsel on Succession
अनुसार्यमाणा बहुभी रक्षिभिर्भरतर्षभ । ते तस्यावसथे लोप्नं दस्यथव: कुरुसत्तम
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: anusāryamāṇā bahubhir rakṣibhir bharatarṣabha, te tasyāvasathe lopnaṃ dasyavaḥ kurusattama janamejaya; bhayāt prajā-rakṣa-senāyā āgamanāt pūrvam eva tatraiva kvacid apakrāntāḥ. teṣāṃ nilīnānāṃ rakṣiṇāṃ senā śīghram upāgamat. rājann, corān anusarantāḥ te janāḥ tapasyāyāṃ ratān taṃ maharṣiṃ dṛṣṭvā papracchuḥ—“dvijaśreṣṭha, brūhi, kena mārgeṇa corāḥ palāyitāḥ, yena vayaṃ tam eva mārgaṃ gṛhītvā tvarayā teṣāṃ paścād gacchema.”
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは語った。「バーラタ族の雄よ、多くの守衛があの盗賊どもを追っていた。クル族の最勝者よ、ジャナメージャヤよ。盗賊たちは恐れのあまり、盗品を大聖仙のアーシュラマに置き、王の護民の軍勢が到着する前に近くへ身を潜めた。彼らが隠れるや、守衛の一隊はたちまちその場に到着した。追手は苦行に没するその仙人を見て問うた。『二度生まれの最上者よ、告げよ——盗賊はどの道を逃げたのか。その道を取り、われらは速やかに追うのだ』。」
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse sets up a classic dharma-conflict: society’s protectors seek justice, while a sage devoted to austerity is drawn into a morally charged question about truth-telling that may enable harm. It highlights how even a renunciant can be confronted by competing duties—truth, non-injury, and social order.
Robbers, chased by guards, stash stolen goods at a sage’s hermitage and hide nearby. The pursuing guards arrive and, seeing the sage, ask him which route the thieves took so they can continue the chase quickly.