Shloka 17
Adhyāya 32: Tāpasānāṃ Darśanaṃ — Ascetics Seek to Identify the Pāṇḍavas
गतेषु तेषु सर्वेषु सलिलस्थो महामुनि:
vaiśampāyana uvāca | gateṣu teṣu sarveṣu salilastho mahāmuniḥ |
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは語った。彼らが皆、視界から消え去ったのち、偉大なる聖仙は—水中に立ったまま—カウラヴァのためを思い、夫を失ったクシャトリヤの女たちに告げた。「高貴なる御婦人方よ。貞節を守り、各々の夫の世界へ赴きたいと願う者は、怠りを捨て、ただちにガンガーの水に身を沈めよ。」その言葉を聞くと、信を抱く貞淑な女たちは、舅たるドリタラーシュトラの許しを得て、ガンガーの水へと入っていった。
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames steadfastness to one’s chosen dharma as requiring promptness and inner resolve: those who seek reunion with their husbands are urged to abandon inertia, act decisively, and do so with due respect for elders and social order (seeking Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s permission).
After others disappear from view, Vyāsa stands in the Gaṅgā and instructs the widowed Kṣatriya women that any who wish to reach their husbands’ realm should immediately plunge into the river. Trusting him, and after obtaining Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s consent, the devoted women enter the Gaṅgā.