Shloka 14
सुरभि अपने स्तनोंसे जो दूध बहाती है, वह सुधाभोजी लोगोंके लिये सुधा, स्वधाभोजी पितरोंके लिये स्वधा तथा अमृतभोजी देवताओंके लिये अमृतरूप है ।। अत्र गाथा पुरा गीता रसातलनिवासिभि: । पौराणी श्रूयते लोके गीयते या मनीषिभि:,यहाँ रसातलनिवासियोंने पूर्वकालमें जो पुरातन गाथा गायी थी, वह अब भी लोकमें सुनी जाती है और मनीषी पुरुष उसका गान करते हैं
surabhiḥ svastanebhyo yaḥ kṣīraṃ srāvayati, tad sudhābhojibhyaḥ sudhā, svadhābhojibhyaḥ pitṛbhyaḥ svadhā, amṛtabhojibhyo devebhyaś cāmṛtarūpam. atra gāthā purā gītā rasātalanivāsibhiḥ; paurāṇī śrūyate loke gīyate yā manīṣibhiḥ.
Nārada said: “The milk that Surabhī lets flow from her udders becomes, for those who partake of sudhā, sudhā itself; for the Pitṛs who partake of svadhā, it becomes svadhā; and for the gods who partake of amṛta, it becomes amṛta. In this connection, an ancient gāthā once sung long ago by the dwellers of Rasātala is still heard in the world, and discerning sages continue to chant it.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
A single sacred source can manifest differently according to the rightful recipient and context: the same milk becomes sudhā for sudhā-eaters, svadhā for the Pitṛs, and amṛta for the gods. The verse underscores dharma as appropriateness—each being is sustained by what is proper to its station—and affirms the authority of ancient, well-transmitted wisdom (gāthā) preserved by the wise.
Nārada introduces a traditional saying: he describes Surabhī’s milk as taking on the form of the appropriate divine/ritual nourishment for different classes of beings, and then signals that an old gāthā once sung by Rasātala-dwellers is still remembered and recited by sages, preparing the listener for an illustrative ancient verse.