Shloka 6
Pāṇḍu’s Marriages, Conquests, and Triumphal Return (पाण्डोर्विवाह-विजय-प्रत्यागमनम्)
तस्मान्निशम्य सत्यं मे कुरुष्व यदनन्तरम् । (यस्तु राजा वसुर्नाम श्रुतस्ते भरतर्षभ । तस्य शुक्रादहं मत्स्याद् धृता कुक्षौ पुरा किल ।।
tasmān niśamya satyaṃ me kuruṣva yad anantaram | (yas tu rājā vasur nāma śrutas te bharatarṣabha | tasya śukrād ahaṃ matsyād dhṛtā kukṣau purā kila || mātaraṃ me jalād dhṛtvā dāśaḥ paramadharmavit | māṃ tu svagṛham ānīya duhitṛtve hy akalpayat || dharmayuktasya dharmārtha pitur āsīt tarī mama ||)
तस्मान्निशम्य सत्यं मे कुरुष्व यदनन्तरम् । यस्तु राजा वसुर्नाम श्रुतस्ते भरतर्षभ । तस्य शुक्रादहं मत्स्याद् धृता कुक्षौ पुरा किल । मातरं मे जलाद्धृत्वा दाशः परमधर्मवित् । मां तु स्वगृहमानीय दुहितृत्वे ह्यकल्पयत् । धर्मयुक्तस्य धर्मार्थं पितुरासीत्तरी मम ॥
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage foregrounds satya (truthful disclosure) as the basis for deciding proper action (yad anantaram), and it praises dharma lived in ordinary roles: the ferryman is called paramadharmavit, and even his livelihood (the boat) is framed as dharmārtha—service aligned with duty rather than mere gain.
A woman recounts her origin story: she was conceived from King Vasu, carried within a fish, then rescued from the fish’s belly by a righteous ferryman who raised her as his daughter. She urges the listener to hear this truth and then act appropriately in response.