Shloka 23
Raivataka-giri Mahotsava and the Counsel on Subhadrā’s Marriage (रैवतके महोत्सवः — सुभद्राविवाहोपायविचारः)
वरं दित्सु: स तत्रैनां प्रीत: प्राह पितामह: । आदित्यचरितॉल्लोकान् विचरिष्यसि भाविनि,इन्द्रे त्रलोक्यमाधाय ब्रह्मलोक॑ गतः प्रभु: । वर देनेके लिये उत्सुक हुए ब्रह्माजी स्वयं ही प्रसन्नतापूर्वक बोले--'भामिनि! जहाँतक सूर्यकी गति है, उन सभी लोकोंमें तू इच्छानुसार विचर सकेगी। तुझमें इतना तेज होगा कि कोई आँख भरकर तुझे अच्छी तरह देख भी न सकेगा।” इस प्रकार सम्पूर्ण लोकोंके पितामह ब्रह्माजी तिलोत्तमाको वरदान देकर तथा त्रिलोकीकी रक्षाका भार इन्द्रको सौंपकर पुन: ब्रह्मलोकको चले गये
varaṃ ditsūḥ sa tatraināṃ prītaḥ prāha pitāmahaḥ | ādityacaritāllokān vicarīṣyasi bhāvini, indre trailokyam ādhāya brahmalokaṃ gataḥ prabhuḥ |
Eager to grant a boon, the Grandsire Brahmā, pleased with her, spoke to her there: “O passionate one, you shall roam at will through all the worlds reached by the Sun’s course.” Having entrusted the guardianship of the three worlds to Indra, the Lord then departed to Brahmā’s own realm. The episode affirms a moral order: extraordinary beauty and power are gifts to be governed by cosmic authority and set within a hierarchy of responsibility—Brahmā bestows, Indra administers, and the recipient is bound to the limits of the Sun’s ordained path.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Gifts of extraordinary power (such as beauty, radiance, freedom to roam) are not merely personal privileges; they are granted within cosmic law and bounded by ordained limits (here, the sun’s course). Authority also entails delegation: Brahmā bestows and then assigns governance of the three worlds to Indra, emphasizing responsible stewardship.
Nārada recounts how Brahmā, pleased, grants a boon to a woman addressed as bhāvini: she may roam freely through all realms reached by the sun’s path. After granting the boon, Brahmā entrusts the protection/administration of the three worlds to Indra and returns to Brahmaloka.