Shloka 21

Vaiśravaṇa-sabhā-varṇanam

Description of Kubera’s Assembly Hall

Devanagari script

उपासते महात्मानं तस्यां धनदमीश्वरम्‌ । ब्रह्मर्षि

Transliteration

upāsate mahātmānaṃ tasyāṃ dhanadam īśvaram | brahmarṣi-devarṣayaś ca tathānye ṛṣigaṇāḥ sabhāyāṃ virājamānāḥ | tebhyaḥ pṛthag bahavaḥ piśācā mahābalā gandharvāś ca lokapālaṃ mahātmānaṃ dhanadaṃ kuberam upāsate || bhagavān bhūtasaṅghaiś ca vṛtaḥ śata-sahasraśaḥ, nṛpaśreṣṭha, lakṣaśo bhūtagaṇaiḥ parivṛto ugra-dhanurdharaḥ mahābalaḥ paśupatiḥ (jīvānāṃ svāmī), śūladhārī, bhagadevatā-netra-nāśakaḥ, trilocano bhagavān umāpatiḥ, kleśarahitā devī pārvatī ca—etau ubhau vāmana-vikaṭa-kubja-lāla-netra-mahākolāhala-medo-māṃsa-bhakṣaṇa-nānāstra-śastra-dhāri-vāyu-sama-mahāvega-bhayānaka-bhūta-preta-gaṇaiḥ saha tasmin sabhāyāṃ sadā dhanadaṃ mitraṃ kuberaṃ upaviśataḥ |

Translation

قال نارادا: في تلك القاعة يعبدون ربَّ الثروة العظيم، كُوبِيرا. ويجلس هناك براهمارشِيّون وديفارشِيّون، ومعهم سائر جماعات الحكماء، في بهاءٍ وجلال. وإلى جانبهم يحضر كثير من البيشاتشا وأقوياء الغندهرفا، يوقّرون كُوبِيرا—حارس الجهات. ثم يظهر الإله المبارك شِيفا—محاطًا بمئات الألوف من الأرواح—ومعه أُوما (بارفَتي) الخالية من الكَلَل. ربُّ العيون الثلاث، حاملُ الرمح الثلاثي، سيّدُ الكائنات، تصحبه جموعٌ مهيبة من البهوتا والبريتا على شتّى الصور وبمختلف الأسلحة، فيجلس إلى جوار صديقه كُوبِيرا، واهبِ الغنى الدائم العطاء.

Word by Word

• उपासते: they worship / attend upon
• उपासते: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: उप-आस् (धातु)
• Form: लट्, आत्मनेपद, प्रथम, बहुवचन

• महात्मानम्: the great-souled one
• महात्मानम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: महात्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• तस्याम्: in that (assembly/place)
• तस्याम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्री, सप्तमी, एकवचन

• धनदम्: Dhanada (Kubera), giver of wealth
• धनदम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: धनद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• ईश्वरम्: the lord
• ईश्वरम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: ईश्वर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं, द्वितीया, एकवचन

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Nārada
• Kubera (Dhanada)
• Brahmarṣis
• Devarṣis
• Ṛṣigaṇas
• Piśācas
• Gandharvas
• Lokapāla (as Kubera)
• Śiva (Paśupati, Trilocana, Umāpati, Śūladhārī)
• Umā / Pārvatī
• Bhūtas
• Pretas
• Sabhā (assembly hall)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage portrays a divinely ordered court where sages and supernatural beings honor Kubera as the rightful steward of wealth, while Śiva’s presence signals that power, prosperity, and awe-inspiring forces are ultimately integrated within cosmic order and reverence rather than mere possession.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada describes Kubera’s splendid assembly: sages sit there, various celestial and spirit-beings attend and worship Kubera, and then Śiva with Pārvatī arrives accompanied by vast hosts of bhūtas and pretas, taking a seat beside Kubera as his friend.