Shloka 40
अध्याय ५६ — च्यवन–कुशिकसंवादः
Cyavana–Kuśika Dialogue on Lineage, Conflict, and Transmission
ततो रत्नान्यनेकानि स्त्रियो युग्यमजाविकम् | कृताकृतं च कनकं गजेन्द्राश्चनाचलोपमा:,राजाकी इस आज्ञाके अनुसार नाना प्रकारके रत्न, स्त्रियाँ, वाहन, बकरे, भेड़ें, सोनेके अलंकार, सोना और पर्वतोपम गजराज--ये सब मुनिके पीछे-पीछे चले। राजाके सम्पूर्ण मन्त्री भी इन वस्तुओंके साथ थे। उस समय सारा नगर आर्त होकर हाहाकार कर रहा था
tato ratnāny anekāni striyo yugyam ajāvikam | kṛtākṛtaṃ ca kanakaṃ gajendrāś ca nācalopamāḥ ||
Bhishma said: “Then, in accordance with the king’s command, many kinds of jewels, women, teams of draught animals and vehicles, goats and sheep, wrought and unwrought gold, and lordly elephants resembling mountains—all of these proceeded behind the sage. The king’s ministers too accompanied these offerings. At that time the entire city, stricken with anguish, raised a great cry of lamentation.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a king’s obligation to honor and support ascetics through generous offerings, while also showing that public actions of rulers carry moral and emotional consequences for the whole community—here expressed as collective grief and lamentation.
Following the king’s order, a large procession of valuable gifts—gems, livestock, gold (both worked and unworked), and mountain-like elephants—moves behind a sage, accompanied by the king’s ministers, while the city cries out in distress.