Mahabharata 3.202.8 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 202, Shloka 8
पञ्चमहाभूतगुण-इन्द्रियनिग्रह-उपदेशः | Teaching on the Qualities of the Five Elements and Sense-Control
वैशम्पायन उवाच युधिष्ठिरेणैवमुक्तो मार्कण्डेयो महामुनि: । धौन्धुमारमुपाख्यानं कथयामास भारत,वैशम्पायनजीने कहा--भारत! धर्मराज युधिष्ठिरके ऐसा कहनेपर महामुनि मार्कण्डेयने धुन्धुमारकी कथा प्रारम्भ की
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: Yudhiṣṭhireṇaivam ukto Mārkaṇḍeyo mahāmuniḥ | Dhaundhumāram upākhyānaṃ kathayām āsa, Bhārata ||
వైశంపాయనుడు పలికెను—ఓ భారతా! యుధిష్ఠిరుడు ఇలా పలికినప్పుడు మహాముని మార్కండేయుడు ధౌంధుమారుని ఉపాఖ్యానాన్ని చెప్పడం ప్రారంభించాడు.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames dharma as something clarified through exemplary tradition: a righteous king’s inquiry is answered not merely with abstract rules, but with an instructive upākhyāna (illustrative legend) narrated by a realized sage.
After Yudhiṣṭhira speaks, Mārkaṇḍeya responds by beginning the Dhaundhumāra episode; Vaiśampāyana, as the outer narrator, signals this transition into a new embedded story.
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