Shloka 23
विशाला बदरी यत्र नरनारायणाश्रम: । त॑ सदाध्युषितं यक्षैद्रेक्ष्यामो गिरिमुत्तमम्,गन्धमादन वही है, जहाँ विशाल बदरीका वृक्ष और भगवान् नर-नारायणका आश्रम है; उस उत्तम पर्वतपर सदा यक्षणण निवास करते हैं; हमलोग उसका दर्शन करेंगे। इसके सिवा, राक्षसोंद्वारा सेवित कुबेरकी सुरम्य पुष्करिणी भी है जहाँ हमलोग भारी तपस्या करते हुए पैदल ही चलेंगे
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
viśālā badarī yatra nara-nārāyaṇāśramaḥ |
taṃ sadādhyuṣitaṃ yakṣair drakṣyāmo girim uttamam |
gandhamādanaṃ caiva |
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “There stands the great Badarī tree, where the hermitage of Nara and Nārāyaṇa abides. We shall behold that supreme mountain, ever inhabited by the Yakṣas—Gandhamādana as well.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes dharmic travel as pilgrimage: seeking holy vision (darśana) of sacred sites and exemplars like Nara-Nārāyaṇa, and accepting hardship with discipline rather than pursuing power or pleasure.
Yudhiṣṭhira describes the destination of their forest journey: the region of Badarī with the hermitage of Nara and Nārāyaṇa, and the supreme mountain Gandhamādana, said to be continually inhabited by Yakṣas.