Shloka 203
Sārasvata–Dadhīca Upākhyāna at Sarasvatī Tīrtha
Balarāma’s Pilgrimage Context
काष्ठ भूतो55श्रमपदे वसति सम महातपा: । आश्रममें प्रवेश करते ही देवलमुनिने वहाँ बैठे हुए जैगीषव्यको देखा
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: kāṣṭha-bhūto 'śrama-pade vasati sama-mahātapāḥ.
Vaiśampāyana said: The great ascetic dwelt at the hermitage-site as though turned into wood—utterly still and self-controlled. When Devala entered the āśrama and saw Jaigiṣavya seated there, Jaigiṣavya did not speak to him in any way even then, remaining absorbed in mauna, the vow of silence.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores that true tapas expresses itself as deep restraint—silence, stillness, and equanimity. Ethical strength is shown by mastery over speech and reaction, not by outward display.
Devala enters the hermitage and sees the sage Jaigiṣavya seated there. Jaigiṣavya remains in kāṣṭha-like stillness and does not speak, maintaining a discipline of silence and self-possessed austerity.