Shloka 120
कृतयुगवर्णनम् तथा राजधर्मोपदेशः
Kṛtayuga Description and Instruction on Royal Dharma
गन्धर्वाप्सरसो यक्षानषींश्वैव महीपते । देत्यदानवसड्घांश्व नागांश्न मनुजाधिप,पृथ्वीपते! साध्य, रुद्र, आदित्य, गुह्यक, पितर, सर्प, नाग, सुपर्ण, वसु, अश्विनीकुमार, गन्धर्व, अप्सरा, यक्ष तथा ऋषियोंका भी मैंने दर्शन किया। दैत्य-दानवसमूह, नाग, सिंहिकाके पुत्र (राहु आदि) तथा अन्य देवशत्रुओंको भी देखा। राजन्! इस लोकमें मैंने जो कुछ भी स्थावर-जंगम पदार्थ देखे थे, वे सब मुझे उस महात्माकी कुक्षिमें दृष्टिगोचर हुए। महाराज! मैं प्रतिदिन फलाहार करता और इस सम्पूर्ण जगतमें घूमता रहता
vaiśampāyana uvāca | gandharvāpsaraso yakṣān ṛṣīṃś caiva mahīpate | daityadānavasaṅghāṃś ca nāgāṃś ca manu-jādhipa | pṛthvīpate sādhya-rudrādityān guhyakān pitaro 'pi ca | sarpān nāgān suparṇāṃś ca vasūn aśvinī-kumārakān | gandharvān apsarasaś ca yakṣāṃś caiva mayā dṛṣṭāḥ | daityadānavasaṅghāṃś ca nāgān siṃhikā-sutān api | anyān devāriṇo 'py anye mayā dṛṣṭā narādhipa | asmin loke mayā dṛṣṭaṃ yat kiṃcid sthāvara-jaṅgamam | tat sarvaṃ tasya mahātmanaḥ kukṣau me samadṛśyata | mahārāja ahaṃ pratidinaṃ phalāhāraḥ san carāmi sarva-loke ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O king, I beheld Gandharvas and Apsarases, Yakṣas and Ṛṣis; hosts of Daityas and Dānavas; and Nāgas as well, O lord of men. O ruler of the earth, I also saw the Sādhyas, Rudras, Ādityas, the Guhyakas, the Pitṛs; serpents and Nāgas, Suparṇas, the Vasus, and the Aśvinī twins; Gandharvas, Apsarases, Yakṣas, and many others. I saw the assemblies of Daityas and Dānavas, the Nāgas, and the sons of Siṃhikā (such as Rāhu), and other enemies of the gods. O king, whatever moving and unmoving beings and things I had seen in this world—all of that appeared to me within the belly of that great-souled one. And, O great king, I live by eating fruits each day and wander through this entire world.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage emphasizes the vastness and interconnection of creation: all classes of beings—divine, human-adjacent, and demonic—are encompassed within a higher reality, symbolized by the vision of the entire world appearing within the great-souled being’s belly. It also highlights disciplined living (subsisting on fruits) and continual wandering as an ascetic mode aligned with restraint and observation.
Vaiśampāyana reports a marvel-filled experience to a king: he has seen numerous orders of beings (gods, spirits, sages, demons, serpent-races, and celestial groups). He then states that everything he had seen in the world—moving and unmoving—appeared within the belly of a certain mahātman, and he describes his own daily practice of fruit-eating and roaming through the world.