Shloka 826
Duḥṣantasya Vana-praveśaḥ
King Duḥṣanta’s Entry into the Forest Hunt
तस्या योजनगन्धेति ततो नामापरं स्मृतम् । तदनन्तर वरदान पाकर प्रसन्न हुई सत्यवती नारीपनके समागमोचित गुण (सद्यः ऋतुस्नान आदि)-से विभूषित हो गयी और उसने अद्धुतकर्मा महर्षि पराशरके साथ समागम किया। उसके शरीरसे उत्तम गन्ध फैलनेके कारण पृथ्वीपर उसका गन्धवती नाम विख्यात हो गया। इस पृथ्वीपर एक योजन दूरके मनुष्य भी उसकी दिव्य सुगन्धका अनुभव करते थे। इस कारण उसका दूसरा नाम योजनगन्धा हो गया
tasyā yojanagandheti tato nāmāparaṃ smṛtam |
Vaiśampāyana said: Thereafter she came to be remembered by another name—Yojanagandhā, “she whose fragrance reaches a yojana.” Having received the boon and being adorned with the qualities befitting union (such as immediate ritual bathing and the like), Satyavatī united with the wondrous-acting sage Parāśara. Because an excellent fragrance spread from her body, she became famed on earth as Gandhavatī; even people a yojana away could experience her divine scent. Hence her second name, Yojanagandhā.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights how boons and personal transformation can reshape social identity: Satyavatī’s new fragrance becomes a public marker of her changed status, and the narrative frames intimate acts within the era’s notions of ritual propriety (samāgama-ucita guṇa such as ṛtusnāna).
After receiving a boon, Satyavatī is described as properly prepared and then unites with the sage Parāśara. A divine fragrance spreads from her body, leading to her being known as Gandhavatī and, because it is sensed from a yojana away, also as Yojanagandhā.