Shloka 5
ययातेर्वानप्रस्थतपःस्वर्गारोहणम् | Yayāti’s Vānaprastha Austerities and Ascent to Heaven
तमेव देशं सम्प्राप्तो जलार्थी श्रमकर्शित: । ददृशे देवयानीं स शर्मिष्ठां ताश्न॒ योषित:
vaiśampāyana uvāca | tameva deśaṃ samprāpto jalārthī śramakarśitaḥ | dadarśa devayānīṃ sa śarmiṣṭhāṃ tāś ca yoṣitaḥ ||
毗湿摩波耶那说：他因劳顿而困乏，求水而来，抵达的正是那处地方。在那里，他看见了提婆耶尼、舍弥什塔以及其他年轻女子。此景昭示：看似偶然的相逢——由境遇与欲念所塑——往往成为转折点，牵引更宏大的道德后果。
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how ordinary human needs (fatigue, thirst) can lead to decisive encounters; such moments test restraint and judgment, and they often become the starting point for far-reaching ethical consequences in the epic’s moral universe.
A man, exhausted and looking for water, reaches the same location and sees Devayānī, Śarmiṣṭhā, and other young women there—setting up the next developments in the Devayānī–Śarmiṣṭhā–Yayāti storyline.