Shloka 40
अर्जुनदुःखहेतुप्रश्नः — Inquiry into the cause of Arjuna’s recurring hardship
Book 14, Chapter 89
सर्पि:पड्का हृदा यत्र बभूवुश्चान्नपर्वता: । रसालाकर्दमा नद्यो बभूवुर्भरतर्षभ
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: sarpiḥ-paṅkā hradā yatra babhūvuś cānna-parvatāḥ | rasālā-kardamā nadyo babhūvur bharatarṣabha ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana sprach: „O Stier unter den Bhāratas, bei jenem Opfer gab es Teiche, deren Schlamm aus Ghee bestand, und es erhoben sich Berge von Speise. Flüsse strömten voll reicher, süßer Essenz, frei von trübem Schlamm.“ So fand der Ritus des weisen Dharmarāja Yudhiṣṭhira seinen Abschluss und zeigte Überfluss, der dargebracht und verteilt wurde, um die Götter zu erfreuen und alle Anwesenden zu nähren —ein Bild königlicher Pflicht, erfüllt durch Freigebigkeit statt durch Horten.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses hyperbolic imagery of abundance to highlight a king’s dharma: wealth and resources gain ethical meaning when consecrated through yajña and expressed as generous distribution that benefits gods, guests, and society.
Vaiśampāyana describes the splendor of Yudhiṣṭhira’s completed Aśvamedha sacrifice—ponds with ghee-like mire, heaps of food like mountains, and pure, rich-flowing rivers—signaling the rite’s successful culmination and the scale of offerings and hospitality.