Shloka 8
Pūru-vaṁśa, Duṣmanta–Śakuntalā, and the Rise of Mahārāja Bharata
दुष्मन्तो मृगयां यात: कण्वाश्रमपदं गत: । तत्रासीनां स्वप्रभया मण्डयन्तीं रमामिव ॥ ८ ॥ विलोक्य सद्यो मुमुहे देवमायामिव स्त्रियम् । बभाषे तां वरारोहां भटै: कतिपयैर्वृत: ॥ ९ ॥
duṣmanto mṛgayāṁ yātaḥ kaṇvāśrama-padaṁ gataḥ tatrāsīnāṁ sva-prabhayā maṇḍayantīṁ ramām iva
Once, King Duṣmanta went into the forest to hunt and, greatly fatigued, came to the hermitage of Kaṇva Muni. There he beheld a supremely beautiful woman, like Goddess Lakṣmī herself, seated and adorning the entire āśrama with her own radiance. Naturally drawn by her beauty, the King approached her with a few soldiers and spoke to her.
FAQs
He met her at the hermitage of sage Kaṇva, where she was seated and appeared radiant like Lakṣmī.
Because her natural radiance and beauty seemed to adorn the entire hermitage, reminiscent of Lakṣmī’s auspicious splendor.
It suggests that purity (like an āśrama) and inner radiance can reveal extraordinary grace—training us to perceive sacredness beyond external status.