Shloka 17
Droṇācārya’s Assessment of the Pāṇḍavas: Nīti, Kāla, and Intelligence (विराटपर्व, अध्याय २६)
अत्यन्तं वा निगूढास्ते पारं चोर्मिमतो गता: । व्यालैश्वापि महारण्ये भक्षिता: शूरमानिन:
atyantaṃ vā nigūḍhās te pāraṃ cormimato gatāḥ | vyālaiś cāpi mahāraṇye bhakṣitāḥ śūramāninaḥ ||
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「彼らはきわめて秘された場所に身を潜めているのか、あるいは波立つ大海のはるかな彼方、遠い岸を越えて渡ったのかもしれぬ。あるいはまた、自らを勇士と誇るそのパーンダヴァたちが、あの広大な森で大蛇に呑まれた可能性すらある。」
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how ignorance breeds conjecture and how pride in one’s own heroism (śūramāna) does not protect one from real dangers; ethical discernment requires restraint in assumptions and humility before uncertainty.
The speaker reports circulating possibilities about the Pāṇḍavas’ whereabouts: they may be deeply concealed, may have gone beyond the sea, or may have perished in the great forest—underscoring that their location and fate are unknown to others at this point.