Shloka 3
कथं नु राजा वृद्ध: स वने वसति निर्जने । गान्धारी च महाभागा सा च कुन्ती पृथा कथम्,“हाय! हमारे बूढ़े महाराज उस निर्जन वनमें कैसे रहते होंगे? महाभागा गान्धारी तथा कुन्तिभोजकुमारी पृथा देवी भी किस तरह वहाँ दिन बिताती होंगी?
kathaṁ nu rājā vṛddhaḥ sa vane vasati nirjane | gāndhārī ca mahābhāgā sā ca kuntī pṛthā katham |
ہائے! وہ بوڑھا مہاراج اُس سنسان جنگل میں کیسے رہتا ہوگا؟ اور نیک بخت گاندھاری اور کُنتی—پرتھا—وہاں اپنے دن کس طرح گزارتی ہوں گی؟
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds compassionate concern for elders and ascetics: even those once powerful must endure the disciplines of renunciation, and the listener is invited to reflect on duty (dharma) toward aged relatives and on the moral weight of a life that ends in austerity rather than privilege.
Vaiśampāyana reports an anxious question about the post-war life of the Kuru elders: the old king Dhṛtarāṣṭra, along with Gandhārī and Kuntī (Pṛthā), has gone to live in seclusion in the forest, and the speaker wonders how they are managing there.