Shloka 3
Cyavana’s Tapas, Sukanyā’s Curiosity, and Śaryāti’s Appeasement (च्यवन-सुकन्या-उपाख्यान आरम्भ)
स वल्मीको5भवदृषिर्लताभिरिव संवृतः । कालेन महता राजन् समाकीर्ण: पिपीलिकै:,धीरे-धीरे अधिक समय बीतनेपर उनका शरीर चींटियोंसे व्याप्त हो गया। वे महर्षि लताओंसे आच्छादित हो गये और बाँबीके समान प्रतीत होने लगे
sa valmīko 'bhavad ṛṣir latābhir iva saṃvṛtaḥ | kālena mahatā rājan samākīrṇaḥ pipīlikaiḥ |
يا أيها الملك، مع امتداد الزمن الطويل صار ذلك الحكيم كأنه كُومةُ نملٍ أبيض (تَلٌّ من تلال الأرض): كأن الزواحف من الكروم قد غطّته، ثم أخذت النملات تزحف عليه شيئًا فشيئًا حتى غمرته. يبرز البيت سكونَ التَّپَس الطويل وشدّته—حتى كأن الجسد يُسلَّم للزمن—بينما يبقى عزمُ الزاهد في باطنه ثابتًا لا يتزعزع.
लोगश उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the power and extremity of tapas: steadfast spiritual discipline can be so absorbing that the ascetic becomes indifferent to bodily condition and the passage of time, suggesting ethical ideals of endurance, self-control, and renunciation.
A sage remains in prolonged stillness for a very long time. Creepers grow over him and ants swarm upon him, so that he appears like a valmīka (termite-mound), emphasizing how long he has remained unmoving in austerity.