पार्थैर्वृतौ पक्ष्मभिरक्षिणीव ।
रेमात उद्दाय मृधे स्वरिक्थं
परात्सुपर्णाविव वज्रिवक्त्रात् ॥३९॥
yamÄv utasvit tanayau pá¹›thÄyÄḥ
pÄrthair vá¹›tau paká¹£mabhir aká¹£iṇīva
remÄta uddÄya má¹›dhe sva-rikthaá¹
parÄt suparṇÄv iva vajri-vaktrÄt
yamau - twins (Nakula and Sahadeva); utasvit - whether; tanayau - sons; pá¹›thÄyÄḥ - of Pá¹›thÄ; pÄrthaiḥ - by the sons of Pá¹›thÄ; vá¹›tau - protected; paká¹£mabhiḥ - by shields; aká¹£iṇī - of the eyes; iva - like; remÄte - playing carelessly; uddÄya - snatching; má¹›dhe - in the fight; sva-riktham - own property; parÄt - from the enemy Duryodhana; suparṇau - Garuá¸a, the carrier of Lord Viṣṇu; iva - like; vajri-vaktrÄt - from the mouth of Indra.
Are the twin brothers who are protected by their brothers doing well? Just as the eye is always protected by the eyelid, they are protected by the sons of Pá¹›thÄ, who snatched back their rightful kingdom from the hands of their enemy Duryodhana, just as Garuá¸a snatched nectar from the mouth of Indra, the thunderbolt carrier.
Indra, the King of heaven, carries a thunderbolt in his hand and is very strong, yet Garuá¸a, the carrier of Lord Viṣṇu, was able to snatch nectar from his mouth. Similarly, Duryodhana was as strong as the King of heaven, and still the sons of Pá¹›thÄ, the PÄṇá¸avas, were able to snatch away their kingdom from Duryodhana. Both Garuá¸a and the PÄrthas are pet devotees of the Lord, and thus it was possible for them to face such strong enemies.
Vidura’s inquiry was about the youngest brothers of the PÄṇá¸avas, namely Nakula and Sahadeva. These twin brothers were sons of MÄdrÄ«, the stepmother of the other PÄṇá¸avas. But although they were stepbrothers, because KuntÄ« took charge of them after the departure of MÄdrÄ« with her husband MahÄrÄja PÄṇá¸u, Nakula and Sahadeva were as good as the other three PÄṇá¸avas, namely Yudhiá¹£á¹hira, BhÄ«ma and Arjuna. The five brothers are known in the world as regular brothers. The three elder PÄṇá¸avas took care of the younger brothers, just as the eyelid takes care of the eye. Vidura was anxious to know whether, after winning back their own kingdom from the hands of Duryodhana, the younger brothers were still living happily under the care of the elder brothers.
