Shloka 153
Gāndhārī’s Petition for a Vision of the Departed (गान्धार्याः प्रार्थना—दिव्यदर्शनप्रसङ्गः)
वृथाग्निना समायुक्तो निष्ठां प्राप्त: पिता मम । हाय, उस महान् वनमें मन्त्रोंसे पवित्र हुई अग्नियोंके रहते हुए भी मेरे ताऊ लौकिक अग्निसे दग्ध होकर क्यों मृत्युको प्राप्त हुए?
vṛthāgninā samāyukto niṣṭhāṃ prāptaḥ pitā mama | hāya, asmin mahān vane mantrebhyaḥ pavitrīkṛtāgnīnāṃ saty api mama tātaḥ laukikāgninā dagdhaḥ kathaṃ mṛtyuṃ prāptaḥ?
玉提施提罗说道：“唉！我父已得坚住之境，并与圣火相应。可为何在那片大森林中——明明有以真言净化的火焰在场——我叔父却被寻常世火所焚而死？这究竟意味着什么？”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between spiritual attainment and the unpredictability of worldly events: even those living in sanctity and discipline remain subject to impermanence. It also reflects an ethical inquiry—Yudhiṣṭhira seeks a dharmic explanation for suffering that seems to contradict the presence of sacred protections.
Yudhiṣṭhira laments and questions how his uncle (Dhṛtarāṣṭra), dwelling in the forest with ascetic practices and sacred fires, could nevertheless die in a common forest conflagration. His grief is sharpened by the contrast between mantra-sanctified ritual fire and the destructive ‘ordinary’ fire that caused death.