Shloka 18
Adhyāya 32: Tāpasānāṃ Darśanaṃ — Ascetics Seek to Identify the Pāṇḍavas
धर्मशीलो महातेजा: कुरूणां हितकृत् तथा । ततः प्रोवाच ता: सर्वा: क्षत्रिया निहतेश्वरा:
dharmaśīlo mahātejāḥ kurūṇāṃ hitakṛt tathā | tataḥ provāca tāḥ sarvāḥ kṣatriyā nihateśvarāḥ ||
毗湿摩波耶那说道：于是，那位胸怀广大、光辉炽盛的圣者——坚住于法，恒为俱卢族谋福——对所有夫主已被杀戮的刹帝利妇女开口。立于水中，他以言辞引导诸寡妇走向她们所求之道，使其哀恸安住于合乎法的决意之上，并指向与夫君在命定诸界中的重逢。
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds dharmic leadership in a time of collective grief: a righteous, luminous guide acts for the welfare of the Kuru community by giving purposeful counsel to those devastated by war, redirecting sorrow toward a disciplined, value-guided course.
After the destruction of the Kuru lords, the widowed Kṣatriya women are addressed by a dharma-centered, radiant figure who speaks to them as a group, setting the stage for their subsequent action described in the surrounding passage (their wish to follow their husbands’ path and the ritual act connected with the river).