Vyasa

Aranyaka Parva

Janamejaya Asks How Yudhishthira Worshipped Surya

Why "Minor"?

Causal ReachTop 99%
Character WeightTop 97%
State ChangeTop 98%
Narrative RecallTop 50%

~1 min read

Janamejaya interrupts the narration to ask a specific question: how exactly did Yudhishthira worship Surya for the sake of the brahmanas who had followed him into exile?

Janamejaya interrupted the flow of the narration. He had been listening to Vaishampayana recount the great deeds of his ancestors, but a particular detail had caught his attention — the worship of Surya by Yudhishthira. He asked: For the sake of the brahmanas, how did King Yudhishthira, bull among the Kurus, worship Surya, whose valour is extraordinary? The question was precise. Janamejaya did not ask why Yudhishthira worshipped the sun god, or what he gained from it. He asked how — the method, the ritual, the specific acts of devotion that the eldest Pandava had performed while living in the forest, stripped of his kingdom, surrounded by brahmanas he could not feed. Vaishampayana heard the question and prepared to answer.

Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 300