Shloka 15
गान्धारीपुत्रोत्पत्तिः — The Birth of Gāndhārī’s Hundred Sons (and Yuyutsu); Omens and Counsel on Succession
धारयामास च प्राणानृषींश्व॒ समुपानयत् । शूलाग्रे तप्यमानेन तपस्तेन महात्मना
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
dhārayāmāsa ca prāṇān ṛṣīṃś ca samupānayat |
śūlāgre tapyamānena tapasā tena mahātmanā ||
Vaiśampāyana berkata: Baginda terus menahan nafas hayatnya, dan dengan sekadar mengingati, baginda menarik para resi datang ke sisinya. Melihat mahātma itu melakukan tapa yang amat keras di hujung pancang, para tapasvin lain menjadi sangat terharu dan gentar; pada waktu malam mereka datang dalam rupa burung, menzahirkan kesaktian menurut kemampuan masing-masing, lalu menyoal brahmana terunggul itu—resi Māṇḍavya.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral tension between outward punishment and inner spiritual stature: even under extreme suffering, the ascetic maintains prāṇa and tapas, suggesting that true power lies in disciplined endurance and that such tapas compels ethical reflection in others.
Māṇḍavya, impaled on a stake, remains alive through yogic control of prāṇa and, by mental intention, summons sages. Disturbed and impressed by his austerity, the sages come at night (described as bird-forms in the surrounding narration) and question him about his condition and the extraordinary tapas.