Bhāgīrathī-tīra-śauca, Kurukṣetra-gamana, and Śatayūpa-āśrama-dīkṣā (गङ्गातीरशौच–कुरुक्षेत्रगमन–शतयूपाश्रमदीक्षा)
वैशम्पायन उवाच इत्येवंवादिनं तं स न्यायवित् प्रत्यभाषत
vaiśampāyana uvāca ity evaṃ-vādinaṃ taṃ sa nyāya-vit pratyabhāṣata
ਵੈਸ਼ੰਪਾਯਨ ਨੇ ਕਿਹਾ—ਇਸ ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ ਬੋਲ ਰਹੇ ਉਸ ਨੂੰ, ਨਿਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਜਾਣਨ ਵਾਲੇ ਉਸ ਬੁੱਧਿਮਾਨ ਨੇ ਉੱਤਰ ਦਿੱਤਾ।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
The verse highlights the ethical ideal that speech should be met with a response grounded in nyāya—reasoned justice and propriety—implying that counsel and correction are to be guided by dharma rather than impulse.
The narrator indicates a turn in the dialogue: after someone has spoken at length (“thus speaking”), a person characterized as a knower of justice responds, signaling an impending judgment, counsel, or principled reply.