Shloka 11
एकचक्रानिवासे ब्राह्मणगृहदुःखश्रवणम् | Hearing the Brāhmaṇa Household’s Distress at Ekacakrā
पितेव हि नृपो5स्माकमभूच्छांतनव: पुरा । विचित्रवीर्यो राजर्षि: पाण्डुश्न॒ कुरुनन्दन:,“पहले शंतनुकुमार राजर्षि विचित्रवीर्य तथा कुरुकुलको आनन्द देनेवाले महाराज पाण्डु हमारे राजा थे। केवल राजा ही नहीं, वे पिताके समान हमारा पालन-पोषण करते थे
piteva hi nṛpo ’smākam abhūc chāṃtanavaḥ purā | vicitravīryo rājarṣiḥ pāṇḍuś ca kurunandanaḥ ||
Disse Vaiśampāyana: “Em tempos antigos, o rei da linhagem Śāṃtanava foi para nós como um pai. Assim também o foram o sábio régio Vicitravīrya e Pāṇḍu, deleite da casa de Kuru—nossos reis que não apenas governavam, mas cuidavam e nos criavam com zelo paternal.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents an ethical ideal of kingship: a ruler should be more than an administrator or conqueror—he should protect and nurture his people with the care of a father, embodying dharma through compassionate guardianship.
Vaiśampāyana recalls earlier Kuru rulers—Śāṃtanava, Vicitravīrya, and Pāṇḍu—praising them as paternal figures to their subjects, setting a moral and emotional backdrop for the later decline into conflict.