Shloka 37
Droṇa’s Ācārya-Dakṣiṇā: Capture of Drupada and Division of Pāñcāla (द्रोण-आचार्यदक्षिणा)
एवमस्त्विति तं चापि प्रत्युवाच युधिष्ठिर: । ते रथैर्नगराकारैदेशजैक्ष गजोत्तमै:
evam astv iti taṃ cāpi pratyuvāca yudhiṣṭhiraḥ | te rathair nagarākāraiḥ deśajaiś ca gajottamaiḥ ||
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは語った。――これを聞いてユディシュティラは「そのとおりに」と答え、ドゥルヨーダナの申し出を受け入れた。やがて彼ら勇士――カウラヴァとパーンダヴァが連れ立って――都を出で、城郭のごとく壮大な戦車と、自国に産する最上の象に乗って、園林の森へと向かった。近くに至ると、同行してきた市民の長たちを帰し、そして山の洞に入る獅子のように、兄弟の勇者たちは園の美を眺めつつ、その中へ踏み入った。
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights royal decorum and restraint: Yudhiṣṭhira’s measured assent (“evam astu”) reflects a dharmic tendency to maintain harmony and propriety in public settings, even amid underlying rivalry. It also shows the importance of orderly conduct—moving with the people’s accompaniment, then formally dismissing them before entering a private space.
Yudhiṣṭhira agrees to Duryodhana’s suggestion. The Kauravas and Pāṇḍavas depart the city together on grand chariots and fine native elephants, reach the garden-woods, dismiss the prominent citizens who escorted them, and then enter the garden like lions entering a mountain cave, observing its beauty.