Shloka 5
Kuntī’s Retrospective Uddharṣaṇa and Renunciatory Resolve (कुन्त्युद्धर्षण-प्रत्याख्यानम्)
तानपृच्छत् ततो राजा क्वासौ कौरववंशभूत् । पिता ज्येष्ठटो गतो5स्माकमिति बाष्पपरिप्लुत:
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
tān apṛcchat tato rājā kvāsau kauravavaṁśabhūt |
pitā jyeṣṭho gato 'smākam iti bāṣpapariplutaḥ ||
تب راجا یُدھِشٹھِر نے اُنہیں پرنام کر کے، آنکھوں میں آنسو بھر کر پوچھا—“اے منیورو! کورو وَنش کے سہارے، ہمارے جَیَشٹھ پِتا اس وقت کہاں گئے ہیں؟”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds dharma as reverence toward elders and responsibility to lineage: Yudhiṣṭhira’s tearful inquiry shows that righteous kingship includes honoring and seeking the welfare of senior guardians, especially when they withdraw from worldly life.
After paying respects, King Yudhiṣṭhira—overcome with emotion—asks the assembled sages/ascetics where his eldest father, the sustaining elder of the Kuru line, has gone.