Shloka 7
Nakula’s Reception in Matsya: Appointment as Aśvasūta
Horse-master
वृद्धों हाहं वै परिहारकाम: सर्वान् मत्स्यांस्तरसा पालयस्व । नैवंविधा: क्लीबरूपा भवन्ति कथंचनेति प्रतिभाति मे मन:,“मैं बूढ़ा हो गया हूँ; अब राजकाज छोड़ना चाहता हूँ; अतः तुम सम्पूर्ण मत्स्यदेशका शीघ्र ही पालन करो। तुम्हारे-जैसे स्वरूपवाले किसी तरह नपुंसक नहीं हो सकते। मेरे मनको ऐसा ही प्रतीत होता है”
vṛddho haahaṃ vai parihārakāmaḥ sarvān matsyāṃs tarasā pālayasva | naivaṃvidhāḥ klībarūpā bhavanti kathaṃcaneti pratibhāti me manaḥ ||
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「我は老い、いまや統治の重荷を退きたい。ゆえに速やかにマツヤ国の全土を守り治めよ。そなたほどの風貌の者が、どうして宦官であり得ようか——我が心はそう確信している。」
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights rajadharma and succession: an aging ruler seeks to relinquish power responsibly by entrusting protection of the realm to a capable successor, while also showing how judgments about a person’s identity can be formed from outward appearance and intuition.
In the Virāṭa context, the speaker reports a statement where an elder expresses his wish to retire from governance and urges another to quickly take up the protection of the Matsya realm, adding that the person’s appearance does not seem consistent with being a klība (eunuch).