अनुक्रमणिकाध्यायः (Anukramaṇikā Adhyāya) — Invocation, Narrator Frame, and Textual Scope
आहु: केचिन्न तस्यैते तस्यैत इति चापरे । यदा चिरमृत: पाण्डु: कथं तस्येति चापरे
āhuḥ kecin na tasyāite tasyaita iti cāpare | yadā ciramṛtaḥ pāṇḍuḥ kathaṃ tasyeti cāpare
บางคนกล่าวว่า “พวกนี้ไม่ใช่ลูกของเขา” บางคนยืนยันว่า “เป็นลูกของเขาแน่” และบางคนคัดค้านว่า “ปาณฑุตายมานานแล้ว จะเป็นบุตรของเขาได้อย่างไร”
The verse highlights how questions of dharma, inheritance, and legitimacy are often contested in society: people form judgments based on rumor, inference, and bias. Ethical stability requires more than public opinion—it requires adherence to rightful principles and trustworthy testimony.
Onlookers debate whether the children presented as heirs truly belong to Pāṇḍu. Some deny the claim, some affirm it, and others argue that since Pāṇḍu died long ago, the children cannot be his—foreshadowing tensions around succession and the status of the Pāṇḍavas.