Shloka 2
Paurava-vaṃśa-kathana (Account of the Paurava Lineage) | महाभारत आदि पर्व अध्याय ८९
ययातिरुवाच नाहं देवमनुष्येषु गन्धर्वेषु महर्षिषु । आत्मनस्तपसा तुल्यं कंचित् पश्यामि वासव,ययातिने कहा--इन्द्र! मैं देवताओं, मनुष्यों, गन्धर्वों और महर्षियोंमेंसे किसीको भी तपस्यामें अपनी बराबरी करनेवाला नहीं देखता हूँ
yayātir uvāca nāhaṃ devamanuṣyeṣu gandharveṣu maharṣiṣu | ātmanaḥ tapasā tulyaṃ kaṃcid paśyāmi vāsava ||
Yayāti said: “O Vāsava (Indra), among gods and men, among Gandharvas and great seers, I do not see anyone who equals me in austerity. By the power of my own tapas, I find no peer.”
शक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how spiritual merit (tapas) can become a basis for self-exaltation; it implicitly warns that even genuine austerity may be ethically compromised when it turns into pride and comparison with others.
In a dialogue involving Indra (Vāsava), King Yayāti asserts that among gods, humans, Gandharvas, and great seers he sees no one equal to him in austerity, presenting his tapas as unmatched.