Shloka 21
Bhaṅgāśvanopākhyāna — On comparative affection in strī–puruṣa union (भङ्गाश्वनोपाख्यानम्)
उस सरोवरमें उतरकर स्नान करते ही दैवने मुझे स्त्री बना दिया। अपनी स्त्रियों और मन्त्रियोंके नाम-गोत्र बताकर उन स्त्रीरूपधारी श्रेष्ठ नरेशने अपने पुत्रोंसे कहा--'पुत्रो! तुमलोग आपसमें प्रेमपूर्वक्क रहकर राज्यका उपभोग करो। अब मैं वनको चला जाऊँगा'
tasmin sarovare avatīrya snātvāiva daivena māṃ strī kṛtam. svāstrīṇāṃ mantriṇāṃ ca nāma-gotrāṇi nivedya strī-rūpa-dhārī sa śreṣṭho nṛpaḥ svaputrebhyaḥ provāca—“putrāḥ! yūyaṃ parasparaṃ premṇā saha vartamānā rājyaṃ bhuṅkṣvadhvam. adhunāhaṃ vanaṃ gamiṣyāmi.”
तस्मिन् सरसि अवतीर्य स्नातमात्रेणैव दैवेनाहं स्त्रीत्वं नीतः। ततः स्त्रीरूपधारी स श्रेष्ठो नृपतिः स्वस्त्रीणां मन्त्रिणां च नामगोत्राणि निवेद्य पुत्रानुवाच— “पुत्राः, परस्परं सम्प्रीत्या वसन्तो राज्यं भुञ्जध्वम्। अहं तु इदानीं वनं गमिष्यामि।”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid extraordinary reversals brought by fate, the ruler’s duty is to secure orderly succession and social stability: he identifies legitimate relations and counselors, urges fraternal concord, and then embraces renunciation, showing restraint and prioritizing dharma over personal attachment.
After bathing in a lake, the narrator is transformed by fate into a woman. In that altered state, the king formally names his wives and ministers by lineage, instructs his sons to rule together in harmony, and announces his departure to the forest.