Shloka 12
ययातिदौहित्रपुण्यसमुच्चयः | Yayāti and the Grandsons’ Consolidation of Merit
ययातिरुपजिघ्रन् वै निपपात महीं प्रति । उनके यज्ञका धूम मानो स्वर्गका द्वार बनकर उपस्थित हुआ था। ययाति उसीको सूँघते हुए पृथ्वीकी ओर गिर रहे थे || ११ ह ।।
yayātir upajighran vai nipapāta mahīṁ prati | bhūmau svarge ca sambaddhāṁ nadīṁ dhūmamayīm iva | gaṅgāṁ gām iva gacchantīm ālambya jagatīpatiḥ ||
Nārada said: King Yayāti, as though trying to inhale it, fell down toward the earth. The smoke of his sacrifice appeared like a pathway—like a river of smoke linking heaven and earth, as if the Gaṅgā herself were descending to the world. Clinging to that smoke-stream, the lord of the earth descended, his fall framed as a moral reversal: the loss of heavenly station that follows the exhaustion of merit and the limits of ritual reward.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Heavenly enjoyment gained by ritual merit is finite; when merit is exhausted, one must fall back into worldly existence. The imagery of clinging to sacrificial smoke underscores that ritual results, though powerful, do not grant permanent liberation.
Nārada describes King Yayāti descending from heaven to earth. The smoke of Yayāti’s sacrifice appears like a river or bridge between realms, and Yayāti is portrayed as grasping that smoke-stream as he falls, emphasizing the transition from celestial reward back to mortal life.