Shloka 3
Śāṇḍilī–Sumanā-saṃvāda: Sat-strī-samudācāra and Pati-dharma
Conduct of the Virtuous Wife
कृष्णद्वैपायनो राजन्नज्ञातचरितं चरन् । वाराणस्यामुपातिष्ठ न्मैत्रेयं स्वैरिणीकुले
kṛṣṇadvaipāyano rājann ajñātacaritaṃ caran | vārāṇasyām upātiṣṭhan maitreyaṃ svairiṇīkule naraśvara ||
Bhīṣma nói: “Tâu Đại vương, Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana (Vyāsa), khi du hành mà che giấu thân phận, có lần đã đến thành Vārāṇasī. Tại đó, trong tư thất của hiền giả Maitreya—ở khu vực gắn với các Svairiṇī—ngài đã đến trình diện.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ideal of humility and unobtrusive conduct: even a revered sage like Vyāsa may move incognito, approaching other sages without display. It also sets a moral-narrative tone that dharma can be explored through encounters in unexpected social spaces, not only in royal courts or forests.
Bhīṣma begins an anecdote for the king: Vyāsa, traveling in disguise, reaches Vārāṇasī and goes to the sage Maitreya’s place, described as being in the svairiṇī-kula locality. This functions as the scene-setting for the episode that follows.