वैशंपायन उवाच
राजा पाण्डुर् महारण्ये मृगव्यालनिषेविते ॥
वने मैथुनकालस्थं ददर्श मृगयूथपम् ॥
ततस् तां च मृगीं तं च रुक्मपुङ्खैः सुपत्रिभिः ॥
निर्बिभेद शरैस् तीक्ष्णैः पाण्डुः पञ्चभिर् आशुगैः ॥
स च राजन् महातेजा ऋषिपुत्रस् तपोधनः ॥
भार्यया सह तेजस्वी मृगरूपेण संगतः ॥
संसक्तस् तु तया मृग्या मानुषीम् ईरयन् गिरम् ॥
क्षणेन पतितो भूमौ विललापाकुलेन्द्रियः ॥
vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca
rājā pāṇḍur mahāraṇye mṛgavyālaniṣevite ||
vane maithunakālasthaṃ dadarśa mṛgayūthapam ||
tatas tāṃ ca mṛgīṃ taṃ ca rukmapuṅkhaiḥ supatribhiḥ ||
nirbibheda śarais tīkṣṇaiḥ pāṇḍuḥ pañcabhir āśugaiḥ ||
sa ca rājan mahātejā ṛṣiputras tapodhanaḥ ||
bhāryayā saha tejasvī mṛgarūpeṇa saṃgataḥ ||
saṃsaktas tu tayā mṛgyā mānuṣīm īrayan giram ||
kṣaṇena patito bhūmau vilalāpākulendriyaḥ ||
Vaishampayana said: 'King Pandu, in the great forest inhabited by beasts and predators, saw the leader of a herd of deer at the time of mating; and then Pandu pierced both that doe and that stag with five sharp, golden-feathered, swift-flying arrows. But he was the greatly radiant son of a sage, an ascetic, who, resplendent, had united with his wife in the form of a deer. Joined with that doe, uttering human speech, he instantly fell to the ground and wailed, his senses in disarray.'
ddca8ba5313f · प्रकाशित 12 जुल॰ 2026, 4:30:27 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Here the fateful deed is accomplished, foreshadowed already by Pandu's passion for the hunt. Notable is that the victim who fell was no ordinary deer, but a sage-ascetic in animal form, caught in the most intimate, defenseless moment. Here the subtle law of karma works itself out: he who before, in ignorance, delighted in killing creatures for sport (mrigaya) now strikes down a being, and the dreadful fruit of this will not be long in coming. It is notable, too, that the misdeed was done without evil intent — by the custom and passion of the hunter; but even unwitting violence against life, especially in the sacred moment of the continuation of the race, brings retribution. Thus the scripture shows once more: violence, even when habitual and 'permitted,' is not a matter of indifference before the higher law, and the human speech breaking forth from the dying beast turns sport into tragedy.