Shloka 21
Nahūṣa’s Fall Explained: Agastya’s Account to Indra (Śalya-narrated)
शल्य कहते हैं--युधिष्ठिर! तदनन्तर महर्षियोंसे घिरे हुए देवता, पितर, यक्ष, नाग, राक्षस, गन्धर्व, देवकन्याएँ तथा समस्त अप्सराएँ बहुत प्रसन्न हुईं। सरिताएँ, सरोवर, शैल और समुद्र भी बहुत संतुष्ट हुए
śalya uvāca—yudhiṣṭhira! tadanantaraṁ maharṣibhir vṛtā devatāḥ pitaro yakṣā nāgā rākṣasā gandharvā devakanyāś ca sarvā apsarasaś ca suṣṭu prītā abhavan. saritaḥ sarāṁsi śailāḥ samudraś ca parituṣṭā abhavan.
Śalya said: “Yudhiṣṭhira, thereafter the gods—surrounded by great seers—along with the Pitṛs, Yakṣas, Nāgas, Rākṣasas, Gandharvas, celestial maidens, and all the Apsarases became deeply delighted. Even the rivers, lakes, mountains, and the ocean were greatly satisfied.”
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
When dharma is upheld, its influence is not merely personal or political; it resonates through the whole cosmos. The verse frames moral rightness as something that wins the assent of sages, gods, ancestors, and even the natural world—suggesting that ethical order and cosmic order are intertwined.
Śalya reports to Yudhiṣṭhira that, after the preceding event (tadanantaram), a vast assembly of beings—divine, semi-divine, and otherworldly—becomes joyful. The description expands from celestial communities to elements of nature (rivers, lakes, mountains, ocean), portraying a universal atmosphere of satisfaction and auspicious approval.