Shloka 2
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 101: Bhogavatī-varṇana, Nāga-vaṃśa-kathana, and Sumukha-vivāha-prastāva
क्षरन्ती सततं क्षीरं पृथिवीसारसम्भवम् । षण्णां रसानां सारेण रसमेकमनुत्तमम्
kṣarantī satataṃ kṣīraṃ pṛthivīsārasambhavam | ṣaṇṇāṃ rasānāṃ sāreṇa rasam ekam anuttamam ||
Nārada said: “It continually exudes milk—born of the very essence of the earth—an unsurpassed single sap distilled from the quintessence of the six tastes.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses the image of milk and ‘the supreme essence’ to praise an ideal source of nourishment and well-being: what is truly excellent is not mere abundance, but a refined, concentrated essence that sustains life and order—an ethical metaphor for the best fruit of the earth and, by extension, of righteous governance.
Nārada is describing something extraordinarily auspicious and nourishing—depicted as constantly yielding milk and as the distilled ‘best essence’ of the six tastes—within a laudatory or descriptive passage in Udyoga Parva, emphasizing exceptional fertility, prosperity, or a supreme substance.