Shloka 16
Ādi-parva Adhyāya 132 — Duryodhana’s Instructions to Purocana at Vāraṇāvata
Lākṣāgṛha Planning
कमण्डलुं च सर्वेषां प्रायच्छच्चिरकारणात् । पुत्राय च ददौ कुम्भमविलम्बनकारणात्
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
kamandaluṁ ca sarveṣāṁ prāyacchac cirakāraṇāt |
putrāya ca dadau kumbham avilambanakāraṇāt |
毗舍摩波耶那说：他把汲水用的水罐（kamandalu）交给其余诸弟子，意在使他们往返迟缓；却把大水瓮（kumbha）给了自己的儿子阿湿婆他摩，使其不致耽搁。于是阿湿婆他摩总是最先取水归来；待其他学生未至之时，师长便私下传授其子更为上乘的习武之法。阿周那得知了这一行径。
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the ethical problem of partiality in teaching: a guru’s favoritism toward his own child creates unequal access to knowledge and undermines fairness (dharma) within a learning community.
The teacher sends students to fetch water; he gives most a small kamandalu so they return late, but gives his son Aśvatthāmā a large kumbha so he returns quickly. In the interval, he teaches his son superior weapon-techniques privately, and Arjuna discovers this.