Shloka 46
Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)
युधिष्ठिर महायोगी वीर्यवानक्षयोडव्यय: । 'सावर्णिक मन्वन्तरके समय जो सृष्टि होगी
Māṇḍavya uvāca—acauras tvaṁ caurasaṅkāyāṁ śūle bhinno hāhaṁ tadā.
Māṇḍavya sprach: „O König, obwohl ich kein Dieb war, wurde ich allein aus Verdacht des Diebstahls auf einen Pfahl gespießt. Von eben dort pries ich Mahādeva (Śiva). Da sprach er zu mir: ‚O Bester der Brāhmaṇas, du wirst vom Pfahl befreit werden und zehn Koṭis Jahre leben. Auch wenn dieser Pfahl deinen Leib durchbohrt hat, wirst du keinen Schmerz empfinden; du wirst frei sein von seelischer Bedrängnis und körperlicher Krankheit.‘“
माण्डव्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the ethical danger of punishing on mere suspicion and the endurance of an innocent ascetic who turns suffering into devotion; it also presents divine grace as a response to steadfast praise and purity, granting freedom from pain and affliction.
Māṇḍavya recounts to Yudhiṣṭhira that he was wrongly impaled as a suspected thief; while on the stake he praised Śiva, who then promised his release, extraordinary longevity, and freedom from pain, disease, and mental distress.