Shloka 61
Atithi-satkāra and the Consolation of Wise Counsel (अतिथिसत्कारः प्रज्ञानवचनस्य च पराश्वासनम्)
उक्तश्नाप्पपेयो भविष्यस्येतच्च ते तोयं वडवामुखसंज्ञितेन पेपीयमानं मधुरं भविष्यति तदेतदद्यापि वडवामुखसंज्ञितेनानुवर्तिना तोयं समुद्रात् पीयते
tam indra uvāca—gaccha, nahuṣas tvayā vācyaḥ; atha pūrveṇa mām ṛṣiyuktena yānena tvam adhirūḍhaḥ. uktaḥ—anāppa-peyo bhaviṣyasi; etac ca te toyaṃ vaḍavāmukha-saṃjñitena pepīyamānaṃ madhuraṃ bhaviṣyati. tad etad adyāpi vaḍavāmukha-saṃjñitena anuvartinā toyaṃ samudrāt pīyate.
Indra said, “Go, and convey this message to Nahusha. You have mounted the ancient conveyance yoked with sages.” Then he addressed the Ocean: “You will cease to be fit for drinking; yet your waters, being repeatedly drunk by the fire known as Vaḍavāmukha, will become sweet.” This is said to be observable even today: the Vaḍavāmukha fire continually draws and drinks water from the sea. The passage frames cosmic order as sustained by regulated forces—what seems destructive (fire drinking the ocean) is also a stabilizing, dharmic mechanism.
तामिन्द्र उवाच गच्छ नहुषस्त्वया वाच्योथ<पूर्वेण मामृषियुक्तेन यानेन त्वमधिरूढ
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a dharmic view of the cosmos: powerful forces (like the Vaḍavāmukha fire) operate within a regulated order. Even when something appears harmful—fire drinking the ocean—it functions as part of a larger balance, illustrating that consequences and constraints govern both rulers and natural elements.
Indra instructs a messenger to go inform Nahusha, referencing a conveyance yoked with sages. He then pronounces a statement to the Ocean: it will not remain drinkable, yet its water becomes sweet through repeated drinking by the Vaḍavāmukha fire—an ongoing cosmic phenomenon described as still observable.