Shloka 3

Nārada’s Exempla of Tapas and Assurance to Dhṛtarāṣṭra (नारदोपदेशः—तपःसिद्ध्युदाहरणम्)

Devanagari script

उस समय उन लोगोंमें विचित्र पदों और नाना श्रुतियोंसे युक्त धर्म और अर्थ-सम्बन्धी चर्चाएँ होती रहीं ।। पाण्डवास्त्वभितो मातुर्धरण्यां सुषुपुस्तदा । उत्सृज्य तु महाहाणि शयनानि नराधिप,नरेश्वर! पाण्डवलोग बहुमूल्य शय्याओंको छोड़कर अपनी माताके चारों ओर धरतीपर ही सोये थे

Transliteration

pāṇḍavās tv abhito mātur dharaṇyāṃ suṣupus tadā | utsṛjya tu mahārhāṇi śayanāni narādhipa ||

Translation

Вайшампаяна сказал: В то время среди них продолжались беседы о дхарме и артхе, богатые разнообразными оборотами речи и множеством ссылок на шрути. Но Пандавы, о царь, отложив дорогие ложа, спали на голой земле вокруг своей матери, являя воздержание и благоговейное служение среди лесных аскез.

Word by Word

पाण्डवाःthe Pandavas

तुbut

अभितःaround

मातुःof (their) mother

धरण्याम्on the ground/earth

सुषुपुःslept

तदाthen/at that time

उत्सृज्यhaving abandoned

तुindeed/and

महाहाणिvery costly/very valuable

शयनानिbeds/couches

नराधिपO king (lord of men)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Pāṇḍavas

their mother (mātā)

earth/ground (dharaṇī)

costly beds (mahārha-śayana)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True nobility is shown through self-restraint and reverent duty: the Pāṇḍavas reject luxury and choose hardship to honor and serve their mother, aligning conduct (ācāra) with dharma even after worldly power has been attained.

What is happening in the narrative?

While the group continues learned conversations on dharma and artha, the Pāṇḍavas physically enact humility by leaving expensive bedding and sleeping on the earth around their mother, signaling a shift toward ascetic, service-centered life in the forest setting.