Shloka 31

पाण्डोः श्राद्धं, सत्यवत्याः वनगमनम्, बाल्यस्पर्धा च

Pāṇḍu’s Śrāddha, Satyavatī’s Withdrawal, and Childhood Rivalry

Devanagari script

पाण्डुरुवाच यदि व्यवसितं होतद्‌ युवयोर्धर्मसंहितम्‌ । स्ववृत्तिमनुवर्तिष्ये तामहं पितुरव्ययाम्‌,पाण्डुने कहा--देवियो! यदि तुम दोनोंका यही धर्मयुक्त निश्चय है तो (ठीक है, मैं संन्यास न लेकर वानप्रस्थाश्रममें ही रहूँगा तथा) आजसे अपने पिता वेदव्यासजीकी अक्षय फलवाली जीवनचर्याका अनुसरण करूँगा

Transliteration

Pāṇḍur uvāca yadi vyavasitaṃ hotad yuvayor dharmasaṃhitam | svavṛttim anuvartiṣye tām ahaṃ pitur avyayām ||

Translation

पांडू म्हणाला—देवियो! तुमचा हा निश्चय जर धर्मसंमत व दृढ असेल, तर आजपासून मी माझ्या पित्याच्या त्या अक्षय फलदायी जीवनवृत्तीचेच अनुसरण करीन।

Word by Word

• {'Pāṇḍuḥ uvāca': 'Pāṇḍu said', 'yadi': 'if', 'vyavasitam': 'resolved, firmly determined', 'hotat (bhavet/etat)': 'indeed this (is/should be)

• emphatic ‘this’ (textual variant/Prakritized form)', 'yuvayoḥ': 'of you two', 'dharma-saṃhitam': 'in harmony with dharma

• sanctioned by righteousness', 'sva-vṛttim': 'one’s own mode of life, conduct, livelihood/discipline', 'anuvartiṣye': 'I shall follow, I shall conform to', 'tām': 'that (feminine

• referring to vṛtti/way of life)', 'aham': 'I', 'pituḥ': 'of (my) father', 'avyayām': 'imperishable, unfailing, inexhaustible'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Pāṇḍu
• the two queens/consorts (yuvayoḥ; addressed as ‘deviyo’ in the Hindi gloss)
• Pāṇḍu’s father (pituḥ; identified in the Hindi gloss as Vyāsa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A decision becomes ethically binding when it is ‘dharmasaṃhita’—aligned with righteousness. Pāṇḍu models moral leadership by accepting a dharma-based resolve and committing to a disciplined way of life grounded in ancestral precedent.

What is happening in the narrative?

Pāṇḍu responds to the two women addressed (his consorts), acknowledging their dharma-consistent determination. He declares that he will adopt and continue an enduring, ‘imperishable’ discipline associated with his father’s way of life, indicating a turn toward regulated, ascetic conduct rather than ordinary royal indulgence.