Shloka 98
कृतयुगवर्णनम् तथा राजधर्मोपदेशः
Kṛtayuga Description and Instruction on Royal Dharma
मुझे विस्मयमें पड़ा देख कमलके समान नेत्रवाले उस श्रीवत्सधारी कान्तिमान् बालकने मुझसे इस प्रकार श्रवणसुखद वचन कहा--'भृगुवंशी मार्कण्डेय! मैं तुम्हें जानता हूँ। तुम बहुत थक गये हो और विश्राम चाहते हो। तुम्हारी जबतक इच्छा हो यहाँ बैठो ।। अभ्यन्तरं शरीरे मे प्रविश्य मुनिसत्तम । आस्स्व भो विहितो वास: प्रसादस्ते कृतो मया,“'मुनिश्रेष्ठ! मैंने तुमपर कृपा की है। तुम मेरे शरीरके भीतर प्रवेश करके विश्राम करो। वहाँ तुम्हारे रहनेके लिये व्यवस्था की गयी है”
vaiśampāyana uvāca | taṁ māṁ vismaye patitaṁ dṛṣṭvā kamalanayanas sa śrīvatsadhārī kāntimān bālako mayā saha śravaṇasukhāni vacanāny uvāca— “bhṛguvaṁśī mārkaṇḍeya! ahaṁ tvāṁ jānāmi | tvaṁ bahu klānto ’si viśrāmaṁ ca icchasi | yāvat te icchā, iha upaviśa || abhyantaraṁ śarīre me praviśya munisattama | āssva bho vihito vāsaḥ prasādas te kṛto mayā ||”
Vaiśampāyana said: Seeing me fallen into astonishment, that radiant boy—lotus-eyed and bearing the mark of Śrīvatsa—spoke to me in words delightful to hear: “O Mārkaṇḍeya of Bhṛgu’s lineage, I know you. You are greatly weary and seek rest. Sit here for as long as you wish. Enter within my body, O best of sages, and repose there. A dwelling has been prepared for you; I have shown you favor.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights prasāda (grace) expressed as compassionate hospitality: the weary sage is offered rest and protection. Ethically, it models care for the exhausted and the honoring of ascetics, while also suggesting that true refuge may lie in a higher, divine reality symbolized by the invitation to enter the boy’s body.
Mārkaṇḍeya, astonished at what he sees, is addressed by a radiant, lotus-eyed boy marked with Śrīvatsa. The boy recognizes him, notes his fatigue, invites him to sit as long as he wishes, and then offers an extraordinary refuge: to enter within the boy’s body where a place to stay has been prepared.