Shloka 43
व्यदृश्यत तथा युक्तो यथा स्यात् पजचविंशक: । वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--भारत! भगवान् श्रीकृष्ण और धर्मराज युधिष्ठिर जब इस प्रकार बातें कर रहे थे, उसी समय अनेक सहसख्र वर्षोकी अवस्थावाले तपोवृद्ध धर्मात्मा महातपस्वी मार्कण्डेय मुनि आते दिखायी दिये। वे रूप और उदारता आदि गुणोंसे सम्पन्न तथा अजर-अमर थे। वैसे बड़े-बूढ़े होनेपर भी वे ऐसे दिखायी दे रहे थे, मानो पच्चीस वर्षकी अवस्थाके तरुण हों ।। तमागतमृषिं वृद्ध बहुवर्षमहस्रिणम्
vyadṛśyata tathā yukto yathā syāt pañcaviṁśakaḥ | tam āgatam ṛṣiṁ vṛddhaṁ bahuvarṣa-sahasriṇam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O Bhārata, while Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Dharmarāja Yudhiṣṭhira were conversing in this manner, the great ascetic Mārkaṇḍeya came into view—an aged, righteous sage, matured by austerity and bearing the weight of many thousands of years. Endowed with beauty and noble qualities, and seemingly beyond decay and death, he appeared—despite his great age—as youthful as a man of twenty-five.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the spiritual potency of tapas and dharma: a life disciplined by austerity and righteousness can transcend ordinary decay, symbolized by an ancient sage appearing youthful. It also underscores reverence for realized sages as living embodiments of ethical and spiritual authority.
As Kṛṣṇa and Yudhiṣṭhira are speaking, the sage Mārkaṇḍeya arrives and is seen approaching. Though unimaginably old, he appears like a young man of about twenty-five, marking the entrance of a revered rishi whose presence typically signals instruction, counsel, or sacred narration.