Shloka 13
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 101: Bhogavatī-varṇana, Nāga-vaṃśa-kathana, and Sumukha-vivāha-prastāva
सुधाहारेषु च सुधां स्वधाभोजिषु च स्वधाम् । अमृतं चामृताशेषु सुरभी क्षरते पय:
sudhāhāreṣu ca sudhāṁ svadhābhojiṣu ca svadhām | amṛtaṁ cāmṛtāśeṣeṣu surabhī kṣarate payaḥ ||
Nārada sprach: „Unter denen, die sich von Nektar nähren, ist der Nektar selbst; unter denen, die die Ahnenopfergabe (svadhā) genießen, ist svadhā gegenwärtig. Und für jene, die ganz von Unsterblichkeit getragen werden, ist Unsterblichkeit ihr Anteil. Die göttliche Kuh Surabhī lässt ihre Milch demgemäß fließen.“
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches proportionality in the moral-cosmic economy: beings receive sustenance that matches their nature, realm, and earned station—nectar for nectar-sustained beings, svadhā for those linked to ancestral rites, and amṛta for the deathless. Surabhī symbolizes the world’s capacity to yield results in accordance with dharma and rightful entitlement.
Nārada is describing a wondrous, orderly distribution of divine sustenance. By invoking Surabhī’s milk and the distinct ‘foods’ of different classes of beings (nectar, svadhā, amṛta), he illustrates how higher realms function under a consistent law of correspondence between conduct/status and the fruits received.