Shloka 17
Adhyāya 32: Tāpasānāṃ Darśanaṃ — Ascetics Seek to Identify the Pāṇḍavas
गतेषु तेषु सर्वेषु सलिलस्थो महामुनि:
vaiśampāyana uvāca | gateṣu teṣu sarveṣu salilastho mahāmuniḥ |
毗湿摩波耶那说道：当他们全都从众人眼前隐没之后，那位大圣者——立于水中——为考罗婆族之福祉，对那些丧夫的刹帝利妇女开口说道：“诸位高贵的夫人！你们之中凡守贞尽节、愿往各自夫君之界者，当弃惰怠，立刻投身潜入恒河之水。”她们听罢此言，心怀信敬的贞淑妇女们先向公公持国王请得允诺，随后便进入恒河之水。
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames steadfastness to one’s chosen dharma as requiring promptness and inner resolve: those who seek reunion with their husbands are urged to abandon inertia, act decisively, and do so with due respect for elders and social order (seeking Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s permission).
After others disappear from view, Vyāsa stands in the Gaṅgā and instructs the widowed Kṣatriya women that any who wish to reach their husbands’ realm should immediately plunge into the river. Trusting him, and after obtaining Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s consent, the devoted women enter the Gaṅgā.