Shloka 18
Adhyāya 32: Tāpasānāṃ Darśanaṃ — Ascetics Seek to Identify the Pāṇḍavas
धर्मशीलो महातेजा: कुरूणां हितकृत् तथा । ततः प्रोवाच ता: सर्वा: क्षत्रिया निहतेश्वरा:
dharmaśīlo mahātejāḥ kurūṇāṃ hitakṛt tathā | tataḥ provāca tāḥ sarvāḥ kṣatriyā nihateśvarāḥ ||
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは語った。ついで大いなる魂と光輝を備え、ダルマに堅く、常にクル族の福利のために働く聖仙は、夫君を討たれたクシャトリヤの女たちすべてに向かって語りかけた。水中に立ちながら、彼は寡婦たちが求める道へと導く言葉を述べ、嘆きをダルマにかなう決意へと据え、定められた界における夫との再会へと彼女らを向けたのである。
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds dharmic leadership in a time of collective grief: a righteous, luminous guide acts for the welfare of the Kuru community by giving purposeful counsel to those devastated by war, redirecting sorrow toward a disciplined, value-guided course.
After the destruction of the Kuru lords, the widowed Kṣatriya women are addressed by a dharma-centered, radiant figure who speaks to them as a group, setting the stage for their subsequent action described in the surrounding passage (their wish to follow their husbands’ path and the ritual act connected with the river).