Shloka 3
Arjuna’s request to Krishna and the opening of the Kāśyapa–Brāhmaṇa mokṣa discourse (Āśvamedhika-parva 16)
तत्र कंचित् सभोद्देशं स्वर्गोद्दिशसमं नृप । यदृच्छया तौ मुदितौ जग्मतु: स्वजनावृतौ,नरेश्वरर एक दिन वहाँ स्वजनोंसे घिरे हुए वे दोनों मित्र स्वेच्छासे घूमते-घामते सभामण्डपके एक ऐसे भागमें पहुँचे, जो स्वर्गके समान सुन्दर था
tatra kañcit sabhoddheśaṁ svargoddiśa-samaṁ nṛpa | yadṛcchayā tau muditau jagmatuḥ svajanāvṛtau ||
नरेश्वर! एके दिवशी ते दोघे मित्र स्वजनांनी वेढलेले, आनंदित होऊन स्वेच्छेने फिरत-फिरत सभामंडपाच्या अशा एका भागात पोहोचले, जो स्वर्गासारखा रम्य होता.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how significant encounters and turns in life may arise ‘by chance’ (yadṛcchayā), suggesting a narrative sense of providence: even in royal life, events unfold through a mix of human movement and unseen ordering, and auspicious settings often foreshadow important developments.
The narrator describes two friends, cheerful and accompanied by their attendants, wandering into a particularly beautiful, heaven-like part of the royal assembly-hall, setting the scene for what follows.