Shloka 17
Agastya–Lopāmudrā: Marriage, Austerity, and Conditions for Conjugal Union (लोमशकथितम्)
तत्र विद्याव्रतस्नात: कौमारं व्रतमास्थित: । शमठो5कथयद् राजजन्नामूर्तरयसं गयम्,उनमें शमठ नामक एक दिद्वान् ब्राह्मण थे जो विद्याध्ययनका व्रत समाप्त करके स्नातक हो चुके थे। उन्होंने आजीवन ब्रह्मचर्यपालनका व्रत ले रखा था। राजन्! शमठने वहाँ अमूर्तरयाके पुत्र महाराज गयकी कथा इस प्रकार कही
Vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca | tatra vidyāvratasnātaḥ kaumāraṃ vratam āsthitaḥ | śamaṭho ’kathayad rājan amūrtarayasaṃ gayam ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana disse: Ali havia um brāhmaṇa erudito chamado Śamaṭha; tendo concluído o voto do estudo e tomado o banho ritual do graduado, assumira o voto de celibato por toda a vida. Ó rei, Śamaṭha então narrou a história de Gaya, filho de Amūrtaraya, como exemplo de disciplina e de reta tradição.
वैशग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the authority of disciplined learning and self-restraint: a brāhmaṇa who has completed formal study (vidyāvrata) and lives by lifelong brahmacarya becomes a credible transmitter of dharmic exemplars through narrative.
Within Vaiśaṃpāyana’s narration, a learned ascetic named Śamaṭha is introduced; he begins to tell the king the account of Gaya, son of Amūrtaraya, signaling the start of a didactic story embedded in the Vana Parva.