Shloka 109
Adhyāya 90: Babhruvāhana’s Reception and the Commencement of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Aśvamedha
ततस्तु सक्तुगन्धेन क्लेदेन सलिलस्य च
tatastu saktugandhena kledena salilasya ca | tadanantaraṁ sattūkī-gandha-sūṅghane tatra gireṇa jalasya kīcasa-saṁsparkaṇe tatra gireṇa divya-puṣpāṇāṁ rodanena ca | te mahātmanaḥ brāhmaṇasya dāna-kāle patiteṣv anna-kaṇeṣu manaḥ-pravṛttyā tathā ca tasya uñchavṛtti-dhāriṇaḥ brāhmaṇasya tapasāṁ prabhāvena mama mastakaṁ suvarṇam abhavat ||
ثمّ إنّ عبيرَ السَّتّو (الحَبّ المحمَّص) ورطوبةَ الماء—بشمِّ تلك الرائحة، وبمماسّةِ الطين المتكوّن من الماء الساقط هناك، وبوطءِ الأزهار الإلهيّة التي هوت في ذلك الموضع، وبإلزامِ القلبِ النظرَ إلى حبوب الطعام التي تساقطت حين كان ذلك البرهمن العظيمُ النفس يهب الصدقة—ومع قوّةِ تَقَشُّفِه (tapas) وهو البرهمن الذي كان يعيش بالتقاط البقايا (uñchavṛtti)، صار رأسي ذهبًا.
श्षशुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the spiritual power of austerity (tapas) and the sanctity of charity (dāna) can produce profound transformation; even humble, reverent association—attention to fallen grains during almsgiving, contact with the place and remnants of a holy person’s acts—can generate merit and purification.
The speaker (identified as the father-in-law) explains the causes behind a miraculous change—his head becoming golden—attributing it to sensory contact (smell of parched grain, dampness of water), physical contact (mud from fallen water, trampling fallen divine flowers), and especially mental attention to grains dropped during a great Brahmin’s act of giving, empowered by that Brahmin’s ascetic practice of living by gleaning.