Shloka 15

Devanagari script

पप्रच्छ चैनं धर्मात्मा यथा ते प्रद्रुता: पुरात्‌ । स तस्मै सर्वमाचख्यावानुपूर्व्येण पाण्डव:,फिर उन धर्मात्मा पांचाल-नरेशने यह पूछा कि 'आपलोग वारणावत नगरसे किस प्रकार भाग निकले? पाण्डुनन्दन युधिष्ठिरने वे सारी बातें उन्हें क्रमशः कह सुनायीं

Transliteration

papraccha cainaṁ dharmātmā yathā te pradrutāḥ purāt | sa tasmai sarvam ācakhyāvānupūrvyena pāṇḍavaḥ ||

Translation

ਤਦ ਧਰਮਾਤਮਾ ਪਾਂਚਾਲ-ਰਾਜ ਨੇ ਉਸ ਨੂੰ ਪੁੱਛਿਆ—“ਤੁਸੀਂ ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਵਾਰਣਾਵਤ ਤੋਂ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਬਚ ਨਿਕਲੇ?” ਫਿਰ ਪਾਂਡਵ ਯੁਧਿਸ਼ਠਿਰ ਨੇ ਸਾਰਾ ਵ੍ਰਿਤਾਂਤ ਕ੍ਰਮਵਾਰ ਉਸ ਨੂੰ ਸੁਣਾ ਦਿੱਤਾ।

Word by Word

पप्रच्छasked

चand

एनम्him

धर्मात्माthe righteous-souled one

यथाhow

तेyou (all)

प्रद्रुताःhaving fled; escaped

पुरात्formerly; earlier

सःhe

तस्मैto him

सर्वम्everything

आचख्यावान्told; related

अनुपूर्व्येणin due order; sequentially

पाण्डवःthe Pandava (Yudhiṣṭhira)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Dharmātmā (the righteous one; contextually Drupada, king of the Pāñcālas)

Pāṇḍava (Yudhiṣṭhira)

Pāṇḍavas (collectively implied by te)

Vāraṇāvata

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights dharmic communication: a righteous ruler seeks the truth of past events, and the virtuous respondent relates facts in proper order. Ethical emphasis falls on truthful testimony, disciplined speech, and responsible inquiry—especially when past suffering and political danger are involved.

What is happening in the narrative?

Within Vaiśampāyana’s narration, the Pāñcāla king (understood as Drupada) asks how the Pāṇḍavas escaped from Vāraṇāvata. Yudhiṣṭhira then begins to recount, step by step, the full story of their earlier flight from that peril.