Shloka 54
Gautama–Śakra Saṃvāda: Karma, Loka-bheda, and the Restoration of the Elephant
गौतम उवाच रथन्तरं यत्र बृहच्च गीयते यत्र वेदी पुण्डरीकैस्तृणोति । यत्रोपयाति हरिभि: सोमपीथी तत्र त्वाहं हस्तिनं यातयिष्ये
gautama uvāca | rathantaraṃ yatra bṛhacca gīyate yatra vedī puṇḍarīkais tṛṇoti | yatro payāti haribhiḥ somapīthī tatra tvāhaṃ hastinaṃ yātayiṣye ||
قال غوتاما: «إلى ذلك العالم حيث يُتغنّى برَثَنْتَرا وبِرِهَت سَامَن، وحيث تُنثَرُ اللوتساتُ البيضاء على المذبح وتُغطّيه، وحيث يسافر شاربُ السُّوما محمولًا على جيادٍ إلهية—إلى ذلك الموضع بعينه سأمضي، وهناك سأُلزمك أن تردّ إليّ فيلي.»
गौतम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores dharma as enforceable moral order: sacred merit and heavenly imagery do not exempt one from restitution. Gautama invokes the highest ritual-heavenly sphere to assert that a wrong (withholding another’s property) must be set right.
Gautama declares that he will pursue the other party even to the exalted realm associated with Sāma-vedic chants and Soma-drinkers, and there compel the return of his elephant—an emphatic vow of recovery and justice.