Shloka 3
प्राग्ज्योतिषे वज्रदत्त-धनंजय-समागमः
Vajradatta Confronts Dhanaṃjaya at Prāgjyotiṣa
रथिनो बद्धतूणीरा: सदश्वैः समलंकृतै: । परिवार्य हयं राजन ग्रहीतुं सम्प्रचक्रमु:
Vaiśampāyana uvāca — rathino baddhatūṇīrāḥ sadaśvaiḥ samalaṅkṛtaiḥ | parivārya hayaṃ rājan grahītuṃ sampracakramuḥ ||
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: Ang mga mandirigmang nakasakay sa karwahe, may mga lalagyan ng palaso na nakatali sa kanilang likod, at may magagarang karwaheng hinihila ng mahuhusay na kabayo, ay pumaligid sa kabayong panghandog. O Hari, matapos itong palibutan, sinimulan nilang agawin ito—isang gawaing hudyat ng hamon sa Aśvamedha ng mga Pāṇḍava at pagsubok sa hangganan ng karapatan at tungkulin ng isang hari.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how ritual sovereignty (the Aśvamedha horse’s free passage) becomes a moral and political test: to restrain or seize the horse is to contest the sacrificer’s authority, raising questions of rightful power, duty of neighboring rulers, and the dharmic limits of resistance.
Armed chariot-warriors, fully equipped with quivers and fine horses, surround the consecrated sacrificial horse and begin trying to capture it—an overt challenge that typically provokes confrontation with the sacrificer’s protectors.