Shloka 19
अध्याय ३५ — वासुकिचिन्ता-शमनम्
Vāsuki’s Anxiety and Brahmā’s Confirmation
बहूनीह सहस्राणि प्रयुतान्यर्बुदानि च । अशक्यान्येव संख्यातुं पन्नगानां तपोधन,तपस्वी शौनकजी! नागोंकी संख्या यहाँ कई हजारोंसे लेकर लाखों-अरबोंतक पहुँच जाती है। अत: उनकी गणना नहीं की जा सकती है
bahūnīha sahasrāṇi prayutāny arbudāni ca | aśakyāny eva saṅkhyātuṃ pannagānāṃ tapodhana ||
Śaunaka said: “Here there are many thousands—tens of thousands and even crores—of serpents. Their number, O treasure of austerity, is truly impossible to count.”
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the limits of enumeration and human grasp when faced with vast multitudes; it frames knowledge with humility, especially in dialogue with ascetics.
Śaunaka, speaking to an ascetic addressed as ‘tapodhana’, remarks that the serpents present are so numerous—ranging from thousands to crores—that they cannot be counted.