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 ||
毗湿摩波耶那说道：于是国王（坚战），泪盈双目，向他们问道：“我等的长父——那位维系库鲁宗族之人——如今去了何处？”此问并非仅求所在；它显露国王的孝道与哀恸，也显露他对长者所守护之正法秩序与宗族延续的忧思。
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.