Shloka 20
Jatāyu’s Resistance, Sītā’s Traces, Kabandha’s Release, and the Path to Sugrīva (Āraṇyaka-parva 263)
अस्मत्कुले महाराजो ज्येष्ठ: श्रेष्ठो युधिष्ठिर: । वने वसति धर्मात्मा भ्रातृभि: परिवारित:
asmatkule mahārājo jyeṣṭhaḥ śreṣṭho yudhiṣṭhiraḥ | vane vasati dharmātmā bhrātṛbhiḥ parivāritaḥ ||
毗舍波耶那说道：“在我族之中，长兄且最卓越的王者是由提施提罗。那位具法之魂者如今居于林野，诸弟环侍左右。”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
True excellence in kingship is grounded in dharma: even when deprived of power and living in exile, Yudhiṣṭhira is still identified as the foremost king because righteousness, not circumstance, defines moral authority.
The narrator Vaiśampāyana points out that Yudhiṣṭhira—eldest and preeminent in the lineage—is currently living in the forest during the Pāṇḍavas’ exile, accompanied and protected by his brothers.