Shloka 1
Sāvitrī’s Report and Nārada’s Prognosis (सावित्र्याख्यान—सत्यवान्-गुणवर्णनं तथा अल्पायुषः पूर्वसूचना)
हम आय न () है सप्तसप्तत्याथिकाद्वेशततमो< ध्याय: श्रीरामके राज्याभिषेककी तैयारी
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: Uktaṁ bhagavatā janma Rāmādīnāṁ pṛthak pṛthak | Prasthāna-kāraṇaṁ brahman śrotum icchāmi kathyatām ||
युधिष्ठिर उवाच— उक्तं भगवता ब्रह्मन् रामादीनां जन्म पृथक् पृथक्। इदानीं तेषां प्रस्थानकारणं श्रोतुमिच्छामि; कथ्यताम्। किमर्थं दाशरथयोर्वीरयोर्भ्रात्रो रामलक्ष्मणयोः सह मैथिल्या यशस्विन्या सीतया वनं गमनं जातम्?
युधिषछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse models dhārmic inquiry: before judging an event like exile, one should seek its true cause from a reliable authority. It also frames exile not as mere misfortune but as a morally significant turning point connected with duty, vows, and the testing of righteousness.
Within the Rāmopākhyāna section of Vana Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira asks the sage-narrator to explain why Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa, and Sītā had to leave for the forest, since the births of the brothers have already been narrated.