Shloka 13
एवं स राजा मत्स्यानां विराटो वाहिनीपति: । व्यादिदेशाथ तां क्षिप्रं वाहिनीं चतुरस्धिणीम्
evaṁ sa rājā matsyānāṁ virāṭo vāhinīpatiḥ | vyādideśātha tāṁ kṣipraṁ vāhinīṁ caturaṅgiṇīm |
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: Kaya si Haring Virāṭa ng mga Matsya, pinuno ng hukbo, ay agad nag-utos sa kanyang apat-na-sangay na sandatahan. Inutusan niya silang magmadali at alamin kung buhay pa ang prinsipe o hindi—at idinugtong, sa isang mapanlait na hinuha, na ang prinsipe na umalis na may isang eunuko bilang kanyang kutsero ay, sa kanyang palagay, halos tiyak na hindi na mabubuhay.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse implicitly cautions that leadership decisions should be based on verification and duty, not on contempt or social prejudice; Virāṭa’s assumption about the prince’s fate shows how bias can cloud judgment.
King Virāṭa, as commander, quickly orders his fourfold army to investigate whether the prince is alive, while expressing a pessimistic assumption tied to the prince having gone with a eunuch as charioteer.