Shloka 1
ययातेर्वानप्रस्थतपःस्वर्गारोहणम् | Yayāti’s Vānaprastha Austerities and Ascent to Heaven
(दाक्षिणात्य अधिक पाठके ५६ श्लोक मिलाकर कुल ३२३ “लोक हैं) नफमशा (0) अमन न एकाशीतितमो< ध्याय: सखियोंसहित देवयानी और शर्मिष्ठाका वन-विहार
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: atha dīrghasya kālasya devayānī nṛpottama | vanaṃ tadeva niryātā krīḍārthaṃ varavarṇinī ||
وَیشَمپایَن نے کہا—اے نَرپ اُتّم! طویل زمانہ گزرنے کے بعد خوش رنگ دیویانی کھیل کے لیے پھر اسی جنگل کی طرف نکلی۔
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even seemingly ordinary actions—like going for recreation—can become the starting point of major ethical and karmic developments; the epic often frames destiny and dharma as entering through everyday moments.
The narrator states that after a long interval Devayānī goes again to the same forest for amusement, setting the scene for the subsequent encounter and events of the Yayāti–Devayānī narrative.