Shloka 9
आशा-कृशता उपाख्यानम्
The Episode on the Emaciation Caused by Hope
सुमित्रो नाम राजर्षिहैहयो मृगयां गत: । ससार स मृगं विद्ध्वा बाणेनानतपर्वणा
Sumitro nāma rājarṣir haihayo mṛgayāṁ gataḥ | sasāra sa mṛgaṁ viddhvā bāṇenānataparvaṇā ||
毗湿摩说道：“有一位名叫苏密多罗的王者圣贤，出自海诃耶一族。一次他入林狩猎，用一支节处向下弯曲的箭射伤了一头鹿，便开始追逐那受伤的兽。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse sets up an ethical narrative: even a rājarṣi can be drawn into violence through hunting, and the consequences of harming living beings become the ground for later moral reflection on restraint, responsibility, and dharma.
Bhishma introduces King Sumitra of the Haihaya line. Sumitra goes hunting in the forest, wounds a deer with a distinctive arrow, and then chases the injured animal—initiating the episode that will unfold in the following verses.