Shloka 36
Pitāmaha-sabhā-varṇana & Hariścandra-māhātmya
Description of Brahmā’s Assembly and the Eminence of Hariścandra
नाटका विविधा: काव्या: कथाख्यायिककारिका: । तत्र तिष्ठन्ति ते पुण्या ये चान्ये गुरुपूजका:
nāṭakā vividhāḥ kāvyāḥ kathākhyāyikakārikāḥ | tatra tiṣṭhanti te puṇyā ye cānye gurupūjakāḥ ||
قال نارادا: «هناك تقيم—وقد تجلّت كحضورٍ متجسّد—أنواعٌ كثيرة من المسرحيات، والقصائد، والحكايات، والآكهيائيكا، والأبيات التعليمية. وهناك أيضًا يقف جميع ذوي الفضل ممن يكرمون معلميهم ويعبدونهم. وهكذا تُصوَّر تلك الجمعية العجيبة كعالمٍ لا يُكتفى فيه بمدح العلم ورقّة البيان وتوقير الغورو، بل تظهر فيه هذه المعاني كحقائق حيّة.»
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse elevates two ideals as intrinsically meritorious: (1) cultivated learning and refined expression (drama, poetry, narrative, aphoristic verse), and (2) reverence toward one’s teacher. In the ethical imagination of the epic, true knowledge is inseparable from humility and guru-honor, and both are counted as puṇya (sources of spiritual merit).
Nārada is describing a marvelous assembly-hall where virtues and cultural excellences are depicted as if they take bodily form and ‘stand’ there. The scene functions as a symbolic catalogue: the sabhā is not only a physical space but a moral-intellectual realm populated by embodied arts and by virtuous people, especially those devoted to honoring their gurus.