Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)
ईश्वरं सम्प्रपद्यन्ते द्विजा भावितभावना: । सर्वथा वर्तमानो5पि यो भक्त: परमेश्वरे
īśvaraṃ samprapadyante dvijā bhāvitabhāvanāḥ | sarvathā vartamāno 'pi yo bhaktaḥ parameśvare
Vāyu said: “Brahmins of cultivated inner discipline take refuge in the Lord. And even one who lives in any condition whatsoever—if he is a devotee of the Supreme Lord—is to be regarded as truly established in the highest good.”
वायुदेव उवाच
True spiritual standing is grounded in taking refuge in the Supreme Lord; cultivated, disciplined persons naturally surrender to Īśvara, and devotion to Parameśvara remains decisive even when one’s external mode of life varies.
Vāyu is speaking and highlights a criterion for religious worth: the twice-born who have refined their inner disposition seek the Lord as their refuge, and he underscores the significance of devotion to the Supreme regardless of one’s outward circumstances.