Shloka 3
Śakuntalā’s Satya-Discourse and the Recognition of Bharata (शकुन्तला–सत्योपदेशः; भरतप्रतिग्रहः)
वैशम्पायन उवाच स कदाचिन्महाबाहु: प्रभूतनलवाहन:,वैशम्पायनजीने कहा--एक समयकी बात है, महाबाहु राजा दुष्यन्त बहुत-से सैनिक और सवारियोंको साथ लिये सैकड़ों हाथी-घोड़ोंसे घिरकर परम सुन्दर चतुरंगिणी सेनाके साथ एक गहन वनकी ओर चले
vaiśampāyana uvāca | sa kadācin mahābāhuḥ prabhūta-nara-vāhanaḥ śataśo hastibhir aśvaiś ca parivṛtaḥ paramasundarāṃ caturaṅgiṇīṃ senām ādāya gahanaṃ vanaṃ prati jagāma |
Вайшампаяна (Vaiśampāyana) сказал: Однажды царь Душьянта (Duṣyanta), могучерукий, с многочисленными воинами и повозками, окружённый сотнями слонов и коней, выступил со своим великолепным четырёхчастным войском к густому лесу.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the outward completeness of royal power—troops, mounts, and disciplined organization—while implicitly setting up the ethical idea that true kingship is tested not by display of force but by conduct and responsibility when circumstances change (here, entering the forest).
Vaiśampāyana describes King Duṣyanta departing with a splendid fourfold army, surrounded by many elephants and horses, proceeding toward a dense forest—an opening movement that leads into the forest episode central to Duṣyanta’s story.