Muñjavān on Himavat: Maheśvara’s abode, Śiva-stuti, and sacrificial gold
Chapter 8
न जरा क्षुत्पिपासे वा न मृत्युर्न भयं नृप । वहाँ न अधिक गर्मी पड़ती है न विशेष ठंढक, न वायुका प्रकोप होता है न सूर्यके प्रचण्ड तापका। नरेश्वर! उस पर्वतपर न तो भूख सताती है न प्यास, न बुढ़ापा आता है न मृत्यु। वहाँ दूसरा कोई भय भी नहीं प्राप्त होता है
na jarā kṣutpipāse vā na mṛtyur na bhayaṁ nṛpa |
Saṁvarta said: “O king, there is neither old age nor the afflictions of hunger and thirst; there is neither death nor fear. That mountain-abode is described as a realm free from the ordinary pressures that drive human conduct—where bodily need and existential dread do not compel action.”
संवर्त उवाच
The verse highlights an idealized state where basic bodily compulsions (hunger, thirst), decline (old age), and the ultimate threat (death) are absent; ethically, it points to freedom from fear and need as conditions that remove many causes of adharma and suffering.
Saṁvarta addresses a king and describes a wondrous mountain-like realm where ordinary human vulnerabilities do not operate—setting a tone of marvel and spiritual aspiration within the Ashvamedhika Parva’s broader post-war discourse.