Mahabharata 9.38.40 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 38, Shloka 40
Kapālamocana-tīrtha (Auśanasa) and Balarāma’s Sarasvatī Pilgrimage
स वै शाकरसं दृष्टवा हर्षाविष्ट: प्रनृत्तवान् । ततस्तस्मिन् प्रनृत्ते वै स्थावरं जड़मं च यत्
sa vai śākarasaṃ dṛṣṭvā harṣāviṣṭaḥ pranṛttavān | tatas tasmin pranṛtte vai sthāvaraṃ jaḍamaṃ ca yat
فلما رأى ذلك الجوهر الحلو كالسُّكَّر، استولى عليه الفرح فشرع يرقص. وحين رقص على تلك الحال، بدا أنّ حتى ما كان ساكنًا جامدًا هناك قد تحرّك—إذ كانت لبهجته قوةٌ مُعدية.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how powerful emotion—especially joy—can overflow into action and influence the surrounding world, suggesting that inner states can become outwardly transformative and contagious.
The narrator says that upon seeing a sweet ‘sugar-like essence,’ a person becomes ecstatic and starts dancing; the description intensifies to say that even what is normally immovable and inert appears affected when he dances.
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