Shloka 111
कृतयुगवर्णनम् तथा राजधर्मोपदेशः
Kṛtayuga Description and Instruction on Royal Dharma
शुश्रूषायां च निरता द्विजानां वृषलास्तदा । ततः परिपतन् राजंस्तस्य कुक्षौ महात्मन:,शूद्र तीनों द्विजातियोंकी सेवा-शुश्रूषामें लगे रहते थे। राजन! यह सब देखते हुए जब मैं उस महात्मा बालकके उदरमें भ्रमण करता आगे बढ़ा, तब हिमवान्, हेमकूट, निषध, रजतयुक्त श्वेतगिरि, गन्धमादन, मन्दराचल, महागिरि नील, सुवर्णमय पर्वत मेरु, महेन्द्र, उत्तम विन्ध्यगिरि, मलय तथा पारियात्र पर्वत देखे। ये तथा और भी बहुत-से पर्वत मुझे उस बालकके उदरमें दिखायी दिये। वे सब-के-सब नाना प्रकारके रत्नोंसे विभूषित थे। राजन! वहाँ घूमते हुए मैंने सिंह, व्याप्र और वाराह आदि पशु भी देखे
śuśrūṣāyāṃ ca niratā dvijānāṃ vṛṣalās tadā | tataḥ paripatan rājan tasya kukṣau mahātmanaḥ ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “In those days the śūdras were devoted to attending upon and serving the twice-born. Then, O king, as I moved about within the belly of that great-souled one, I beheld many mountains—Himavān, Hemakūṭa, Niṣadha, the silver-white Śvetagiri, Gandhamādana, Mandarācala, the great Nīla mountain, the golden Meru, Mahendra, the lofty Vindhya, Malaya, and Pāriyātra—along with many others, all adorned with diverse gems. Roaming there, I also saw beasts such as lions, tigers, and boars.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage foregrounds śuśrūṣā—humble, attentive service—as a recognized form of dharma within the social order, while also suggesting that moral order and cosmic order are intertwined: the narrator’s extraordinary inner vision unfolds in a world where duties are being observed.
Vaiśaṃpāyana narrates a marvel: while moving about inside the belly/womb of a great-souled being, the narrator beholds a vast inner landscape—major mountains adorned with jewels and wild animals—presented as a wondrous, almost cosmic geography contained within that body.