Shloka 1246
मानसतीर्थ-शौचप्रशंसा | Praise of the ‘Mental Tīrtha’ and the Marks of Purity
मनो5भिरामा मधुरा रमयन्ति मदोत्कटा: । उस विमानमें अप्सराएँ भरी रहती हैं
mano'bhirāmā madhurā ramayanti madotkaṭāḥ | tasmin vimāne apsarāḥ pūrṇāḥ santi, gandharvagītānāṃ madhuradhvaninā sa vimānaḥ pratidhvanati | tasmin vimāne divyābharaṇavibhūṣitāḥ śubhalakṣaṇasampannāḥ mano'bhirāmāḥ madamattāḥ madhurabhāṣiṇyaś ca ramaṇyo naraṃ taṃ ramayanti |
Bhishma schildert einen himmlischen Luftwagen: Er ist erfüllt von Apsaras und hallt unablässig wider vom süßen Klang der Lieder der Gandharvas. Darin ergötzen Frauen, geschmückt mit göttlichem Schmuck—in allen Zeichen glückverheißend, den Geist betörend, von Freude berauscht und von süßer Rede—jenen Mann. Die Stelle hebt den Reiz himmlischer Belohnung als Folge von Verdienst hervor und mahnt zugleich im Unterton: Lust ist Frucht, nicht das letzte Ziel des Dharma.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents heavenly enjoyment as a result of accumulated merit: dharmic action yields pleasing fruits, depicted as celestial music, beauty, and delight. At the same time, it implies an ethical hierarchy—pleasure is a consequence of dharma, not its substitute.
Bhishma is describing a celestial vimana associated with a meritorious man: it is filled with apsarases, echoes with gandharva music, and contains divinely adorned, auspicious, sweet-speaking women who entertain him.