Shloka 57
Vāraṇāvata-prasaṃsā and the Pāṇḍavas’ Departure (वरणावत-प्रशंसा तथा पाण्डव-प्रयाणम्)
पिष्टोदक॑ सुतो यस्य पीत्वा क्षीरस्य तृष्णया । नृत्यति सम मुदाविष्ट: क्षीरं पीत॑ मयाप्युत
piṣṭodaka-suto yasya pītvā kṣīrasya tṛṣṇayā | nṛtyati sa mudāviṣṭaḥ kṣīraṃ pītaṃ mayāpy uta ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Wessen Sohn gleichsam ‚aus Mehlwasser geboren‘ ist—der, in seinem Durst, Milch getrunken hat—der beginnt vor Freude zu tanzen. So auch ich: Auch ich habe ‚die Milch‘ (jenes Entzückens) getrunken.“
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a vivid metaphor to show how intense longing (thirst) makes even a simple satisfaction (drinking milk) produce exuberant joy; it also hints that true relish depends on inner readiness and need, not merely on the object obtained.
The narrator Vaiśampāyana employs a simile about someone rejoicing after drinking milk when thirsty, and then applies it to himself—saying that he too has ‘drunk the milk,’ i.e., he has partaken of and been delighted by what has just been recounted or received.