Shloka 20
वंशानुकीर्तनम् — Genealogical Recitation from Dakṣa to Yayāti and the Establishment of the Paurava Line
यतिभिर्वालखिल्यैश्न वृतं मुनिगणान्वितम् । अग्न्यगारैश्न बहुभि: पुष्पसंस्तरसंस्तृतम्,वहाँ बहुत-से त्यागी विरागी यति, बालखिल्य ऋषि तथा अन्य मुनिगण निवास करते थे। अनेकानेक अग्निहोत्रगृह उस आश्रमकी शोभा बढ़ा रहे थे। वहाँ इतने फूल झड़कर गिरे थे कि उनके बिछौने-से बिछ गये थे
yatibhir vālakhilyaiś ca vṛtaṃ munigaṇānvitam | agnyagāraiś ca bahubhiḥ puṣpasaṃstarasaṃstṛtam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: The hermitage was thronged with ascetics—yatis, the Vālakhilya sages, and many other groups of munis. It was adorned with numerous sacred fire-houses for Agnihotra rites, and the ground lay so thickly strewn with fallen flowers that it looked as though it had been spread with floral bedding. The scene underscores a culture of disciplined renunciation and continuous ritual duty, presenting the āśrama as a moral counterpoint to worldly ambition.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical ideal of āśrama-dharma: disciplined renunciation (yati-life) and faithful maintenance of sacred duties (Agnihotra). The beauty created by simplicity, ritual order, and natural purity (flowers strewn like a bed) presents spiritual culture as a stabilizing moral force.
The narrator describes an āśrama inhabited by many ascetics and sages, emphasizing its sanctity through the presence of numerous fire-houses for ritual worship and the serene, flower-strewn surroundings.