Shloka 57
Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)
अपश्य॑ पितरं तात इष्टिं कृत्वा विनि:सृतम् । उपस्पृश्य गृहीत्वेध्मं कुशांश्ष शरणाकुरून्
apaśyaṁ pitaraṁ tāta iṣṭiṁ kṛtvā viniḥsṛtam | upaspṛśya gṛhītvendhmaṁ kuśāṁś ca śaraṇākurūn, tāta yudhiṣṭhira |
Gālava sprach: „O Lieber, nachdem ich das Opfer vollendet hatte, sah ich meinen Vater aus dem Opferplatz hervortreten. Nachdem er sich durch das rituelle Schlürfen von Wasser gereinigt hatte, nahm er Opferhölzer (samidhā) und Kuśa-Gras sowie die übrigen Erfordernisse des Ritus an sich. O Yudhiṣṭhira, so erblickte ich ihn—eben erst vom yajña her—sich bewegend in jener disziplinierten Schlichtheit, die ein nach dem Dharma geordnetes Leben kennzeichnet.“
गालव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds dharmic discipline expressed through ritual purity and simplicity: after sacrifice, one maintains cleanliness (upaspṛśya/ācamana) and handles sacred materials (fuel-sticks, kuśa) with care, reflecting an ordered life rooted in duty and reverence.
Gālava recounts to Yudhiṣṭhira that he saw his father emerging after completing a sacrificial rite, carrying ritual implements such as fuel-sticks and kuśa grass, indicating the immediate post-yajña context and the father’s adherence to prescribed conduct.