Shloka 3
Adhyāya 90: Babhruvāhana’s Reception and the Commencement of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Aśvamedha
तर्पितिषु द्विजाग्रयेषु ज्ञातिसम्बन्धिबन्धुषु । दीनान्धकृपणे वापि तदा भरतसत्तम,भरतश्रेष्ठ] भारत! उस यज्ञमें श्रेष्ठ ब्राह्मणों, जातिवालों, सम्बन्धियों, बन्धु-बान्धवों, अन्धों तथा दीन-दरिद्रोंके तृप्त हो जानेपर जब युधिष्ठिरके महान् दानका चारों ओर शोर हो गया और धर्मराजके मस्तकपर फूलोंकी वर्षा होने लगी उसी समय वहाँ एक नेवला आया। अनघ! उसकी आँखें नीली थीं और उसके शरीरके एक ओरका भाग सोनेका था। पृथ्वीनाथ! उसने आते ही एक बार वज्रके समान भयंकर गर्जना की
Vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca: tarpiteṣu dvijāgryeṣu jñāti-sambandhi-bandhuṣu | dīnāndha-kṛpaṇe vāpi tadā bharata-sattama ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: When the foremost Brahmins had been satisfied, and likewise kinsmen, relations, and friends—indeed even the poor, the blind, and the destitute—then, O best of the Bharatas, at that very time (as the fame of Yudhiṣṭhira’s great gifts spread on all sides and flowers rained upon the king’s head), a mongoose arrived there. Blameless one, its eyes were blue, and one side of its body was golden. O lord of the earth, as soon as it came, it let out a single roar, terrible like a thunderbolt.
वैशग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage foregrounds dāna and hospitality as ethical duties: true royal and ritual success is measured not merely by grandeur but by whether all classes—especially the vulnerable (poor, blind, destitute)—are genuinely satisfied. The sudden arrival of the mongoose signals an impending moral evaluation of the celebrated charity.
After the sacrificial distribution has satisfied Brahmins, relatives, friends, and even the needy, Yudhiṣṭhira’s generosity becomes widely acclaimed and flowers rain upon him. At that climactic moment a blue-eyed mongoose, golden on one side, enters and roars like a thunderbolt—introducing a dramatic challenge or commentary on the merit of the rite.