अथ द्वैपायनो ज्ञात्वा त्वरितः समुपागमत् ॥
तां स मांसमयीं पेशीं ददर्श जपतां वरः ॥
ततो ऽब्रवीत् सौबलेयीं किम् इदं ते चिकीर्षितम् ॥
सा चात्मनो मतं सत्यं शशंस परमर्षये ॥
ज्येष्ठं कुन्तीसुतं जातं श्रुत्वा रविसमप्रभम् ॥
दुःखेन परमेणेदम् उदरं पातितं मया ॥
शतं च किल पुत्राणां वितीर्णं मे त्वया पुरा ॥
इयं च मे मांसपेशी जाता पुत्रशताय वै ॥
atha dvaipāyano jñātvā tvaritaḥ samupāgamat ||
tāṃ sa māṃsamayīṃ peśīṃ dadarśa japatāṃ varaḥ ||
tato 'bravīt saubaleyīṃ kim idaṃ te cikīrṣitam ||
sā cātmano mataṃ satyaṃ śaśaṃsa paramarṣaye ||
jyeṣṭhaṃ kuntīsutaṃ jātaṃ śrutvā ravisamaprabham ||
duḥkhena parameṇedam udaraṃ pātitaṃ mayā ||
śataṃ ca kila putrāṇāṃ vitīrṇaṃ me tvayā purā ||
iyaṃ ca me māṃsapeśī jātā putraśatāya vai ||
"Then Dvaipayana, learning of it, came hastily; and that lump of flesh the best of those who murmur mantras beheld. Then he said to the daughter of Subala: 'What is this you intended?' And she truthfully declared her own thought to the supreme sage: 'Hearing that the eldest son of Kunti was born, radiant as the sun, from utmost grief I struck down this womb. A hundred sons were indeed granted to me by you before -- and here, instead, only this lump of flesh has been born to me in place of a hundred sons.'"
585b86215f80 · published Jul 12, 2026, 4:30:26 PM UTC
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Here Vyasa arrives to save the situation, and Gandhari confesses truthfully. Telling is that the sage "learns" of the trouble from afar and hastens: the care of a saint for those to whom he has given a boon does not abandon them even in their fall. Telling too is Gandhari's truthfulness: she does not make excuses but openly reveals her faint-hearted thought to the sage. Here is the virtue of sincere confession: one who, having sinned, does not conceal it but honestly avows the fault before an elder is worthy of help and forgiveness. Telling is her lament over the apparent non-fulfillment of the boon -- and here the faithfulness of Vyasa's word will be revealed. Thus scripture sets against Gandhari's faintheartedness and impatience the unshaken faithfulness of the saint's word, ready even out of a lump of flesh ruined by impatience to raise up what was promised.