Shloka 8
Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 180 — Svayaṃvara-Virodha and Pāṇḍava Parākrama
Draupadī Episode
तान् भूगूणां यदा दारान् वक्रिन्नाभ्युपपद्यत । माता तदा दधारेयमूरुणैकेन मां शुभा
tān bhṛgūṇāṃ yadā dārān rakṣitā nābhyupapadyata | mātā tadā dadhāreyam ūrūṇā ekena māṃ śubhā || tataḥ paramaduṣprāpam anyair ṛṣir udāradhīḥ | samāpipayiṣuḥ satraṃ tam atriḥ samupāgamat ||
اُروَ نے کہا—جب بھِرگوؤں کی بیویوں کے لیے کوئی محافظ نہ ملا تو میری نیک بخت ماں نے مجھے اپنی ایک ران میں چھپا لیا۔ پھر یہ جان کر کہ دوسروں کے لیے اس سَتر یَجْن کو ختم کرانا نہایت دشوار ہے، عالی ہمت مہارشی اَتری اسے تمام کرانے کی خواہش سے وہاں آ پہنچے۔
ऑर्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds dharma as protection: when social order fails to provide a guardian, a mother’s courageous, resourceful protection preserves lineage and life. It also highlights restraint in ritual power—great sages like Atri intervene to conclude a dangerous or unmanageable sacrificial undertaking rather than let it escalate.
Auruva recounts how, during a time when the Bhṛgu women lacked any protector, his mother concealed him in her thigh to save him. Then the sage Atri arrives, intending to bring a prolonged sacrificial session (satra) to its proper conclusion, recognizing that ending it would be extremely difficult for others.