Shloka 38
Cyavana’s Yogic Display and Kuśika’s Recognition of Tapas (च्यवन-योगप्रभावः कुशिकस्य तपःप्रशंसा च)
(अत्यन्तापदि मग्नानां परित्राणं हि कुर्वताम् । या गतिर्विदिता त्वद्य नरके शरणं भवान् ।।
cayavana uvāca | kṛpaṇasya ca yac cakṣur muneś ca śīviṣasya ca | naraṃ samūlaṃ dahati kakṣam agnir iva jvalan ||
Cayavana sprach: „Ihr Niṣādas, der zornige Blick eines hilflos Leidenden, der eines Weisen und der einer giftigen Schlange verbrennt einen Menschen bis zur Wurzel—wie loderndes Feuer ein Dickicht aus dürrem Gras verzehrt.“
च्यवन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Do not injure or contemptuously provoke the helpless, the spiritually accomplished, or dangerous beings; their wrath (symbolized by the ‘glance’) can bring complete destruction. The ethical lesson is restraint, compassion, and reverence for moral and ascetic power.
Cayavana delivers a warning statement: certain beings—an afflicted person, a sage, and a venomous serpent—can be devastating when angered. He illustrates this with a simile of blazing fire consuming dry brush, emphasizing the immediacy and totality of the consequence.