Shloka 3
Āraṇyaka-parva, Adhyāya 1 — The Pandavas’ Exit from Gajasāhvaya and the Citizens’ Lament (जनमेजयप्रश्नः; पाण्डवानां वनप्रस्थानम्)
कथं चैश्वर्यविभ्रष्टा: सहसा दुःखमेयुष: । वने विजद्रिरे पार्था: शक्रप्रतिमतेजस:,तथा जो सहसा ऐश्वर्यसे वंचित हो जानेके कारण महान् दुःखमें पड़ गये थे, उन इन्द्रके तुल्य तेजस्वी पाण्डवोंने वनमें किस प्रकार विचरण किया?
kathaṃ caiśvaryavibhraṣṭāḥ sahasā duḥkham eyuṣaḥ | vane vijadrire pārthāḥ śakrapratimatejasaḥ ||
Джанамеджая спросил: «Как Партхи — внезапно лишённые царского благополучия и повергнутые в великое страдание — странствовали по лесу, оставаясь сияющими, как Индра? Каким образом они терпели и как держали себя там?»
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical tension between external fortune (aiśvarya) and inner worth (tejas): even when righteous people lose power suddenly, their conduct in adversity becomes the true measure of dharma—how they endure suffering without losing dignity and moral direction.
In the frame dialogue, King Janamejaya asks the narrator to explain how the Pāṇḍavas, abruptly dispossessed of their kingdom and thrown into misery, lived and moved about in the forest during exile, despite being described as radiant and formidable like Indra.