Shloka 5
Kurukṣetra–Samantapañcaka Māhātmya: King Kuru’s Ploughing and Indra’s Boon (प्रजापतेरुत्तरवेदिः समन्तपञ्चकं)
सुभ्रू: सा हाथ कल्याणी पुण्डरीकनिभेक्षणा,तदनन्तर कमलके समान सुन्दर नेत्रोंवाली वह कल्याणमयी सती साध्वी सुन्दरी कन्या पूर्वकालमें अपने लिये आश्रम बनाकर बड़ी कठोर तपस्या तथा उपवासके साथ-साथ देवताओं और पितरोंका पूजन करती हुई वहाँ रहने लगी
subhrūḥ sā ha tat kalyāṇī puṇḍarīka-nibhekṣaṇā | tad-anantaraṃ kamalake-samānā sundara-netrā kalyāṇamayī satī sādhvī sundarī kanyā pūrva-kāle svārtham āśramaṃ kṛtvā mahā-kaṭhora-tapasā upavāsena ca saha devatā-pitṝṇāṃ pūjanaṃ kurvatī tatra nyavasat ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “That auspicious maiden, Subhrū—whose eyes resembled the white lotus—afterwards, being virtuous and blessed, established an ashram for herself in earlier times. There she lived, performing severe austerities and fasts, and continually worshipping the gods and the ancestors.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds dharmic discipline: severe austerity and fasting are paired with reverence—worship of both gods and ancestors—showing that personal spiritual effort (tapas) is ethically grounded in gratitude, continuity of lineage, and ritual responsibility.
Vaiśampāyana describes Subhrū, a virtuous maiden with lotus-like eyes, who in earlier times built a hermitage for herself and lived there practicing rigorous austerities and fasts while regularly worshipping the gods and the ancestral spirits.