Shloka 23
Āraṇyaka-parva, Adhyāya 1 — The Pandavas’ Exit from Gajasāhvaya and the Citizens’ Lament (जनमेजयप्रश्नः; पाण्डवानां वनप्रस्थानम्)
श्रूयतां चाभिधास्यामो गुणदोषान् नरर्षभा: | शुभाशुभाधिवासेन संसर्ग: कुरुते यथा,“नरश्रेष्ठ पाण्डवो! शुभ और अशुभ आश्रयमें रहनेपर वहाँका संसर्ग मनुष्यमें जैसे गुण- दोषोंकी सृष्टि करता है, उनका हम वर्णन करते हैं, सुनिये
śrūyatāṃ cābhidhāsyāmo guṇadoṣān naraṛṣabhāḥ | śubhāśubhādhivāsena saṃsargaḥ kurute yathā ||
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「聞け、人のうち最もすぐれた者たちよ。吉なる所、あるいは凶なる所に住むことによって形づくられる交わりが、いかにして人の内に徳と過失を生じさせるか、今ここに語ろう。」
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
A person’s character is strongly shaped by saṃsarga (association) and by the moral tone of one’s environment: dwelling amid wholesome (śubha) influences tends to cultivate guṇas (virtues), while dwelling amid unwholesome (aśubha) influences tends to generate doṣas (faults).
Vaiśampāyana signals a didactic turn in the narration: he asks the listeners (addressed as ‘best of men’) to hear an explanation of how contact with auspicious or inauspicious surroundings produces virtues and vices—setting up a moral framework for the events to be recounted.