Shloka 11
Śānti-parva Adhyāya 30: Nārada–Parvata Samaya-bhaṅga, Śāpa, and the Marriage of Sukumārī
सुकुमारी कुमारी च पद्मकिज्जल्कसुप्र भा । तब “बहुत अच्छा” कहकर राजाने उन दोनोंका सत्कारपूर्वक पूजन किया। तदनन्तर एक दिन राजा सूंजयने अत्यन्त प्रसन्न होकर उन दोनों तपस्वी महात्माओंसे कहा --“महर्षियो! यह मेरी एक ही कन्या है
sukumārī kumārī ca padmakijjalkasuprabhā |
There was a maiden named Sukumārī—an unmarried girl of exquisite delicacy—radiant like the filaments of a lotus. Then, saying “Very good,” the king honored and worshiped both ascetic great-souled sages with due reverence. After that, one day King Sūñjaya, exceedingly pleased, said to those two austere Mahātmans: “O great seers! This is my only daughter—supremely beautiful, worthy to behold, faultless in her limbs, and endowed with good conduct and virtuous discipline. Radiant like lotus-filaments, this maiden Sukumārī shall, from today, serve you both.”
श्रीकृष्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights dharma through reverence toward sages and the ethical ideal of honoring spiritual merit with respectful hospitality; it also presents service (sevā) as a valued expression of humility and righteous conduct.
A king, pleased with two ascetic sages, formally honors them and then offers his only daughter Sukumārī—praised for beauty and virtue—to attend and serve them from that day onward.