Shloka 3
Śāṇḍilī–Sumanā-saṃvāda: Sat-strī-samudācāra and Pati-dharma
Conduct of the Virtuous Wife
कृष्णद्वैपायनो राजन्नज्ञातचरितं चरन् । वाराणस्यामुपातिष्ठ न्मैत्रेयं स्वैरिणीकुले
kṛṣṇadvaipāyano rājann ajñātacaritaṃ caran | vārāṇasyām upātiṣṭhan maitreyaṃ svairiṇīkule naraśvara ||
ਭੀਸ਼ਮ ਨੇ ਆਖਿਆ—ਹੇ ਰਾਜਨ! ਇਕ ਵਾਰ ਕ੍ਰਿਸ਼ਣ-ਦ੍ਵੈਪਾਯਨ ਵਿਆਸ ਅਗਿਆਤ ਵੇਸ ਵਿੱਚ ਭਟਕਦੇ ਹੋਏ ਵਾਰਾਣਸੀ ਆ ਪਹੁੰਚੇ। ਉੱਥੇ ਸਵੈਰਿਣੀਆਂ ਦੇ ਇਲਾਕੇ ਵਿੱਚ ਸਥਿਤ ਮਹਰਿਸ਼ੀ ਮੈਤ੍ਰੇਯ ਦੇ ਆਸ਼ਰਮ ਵਿੱਚ ਉਹ ਹਾਜ਼ਰ ਹੋਏ, ਨਰੇਸ਼ਵਰ!
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ideal of humility and unobtrusive conduct: even a revered sage like Vyāsa may move incognito, approaching other sages without display. It also sets a moral-narrative tone that dharma can be explored through encounters in unexpected social spaces, not only in royal courts or forests.
Bhīṣma begins an anecdote for the king: Vyāsa, traveling in disguise, reaches Vārāṇasī and goes to the sage Maitreya’s place, described as being in the svairiṇī-kula locality. This functions as the scene-setting for the episode that follows.