Mahabharata — Udyoga Parva, Shloka 13
अध्याय ८ — शल्यस्य सत्कारः, वरदानं, पाण्डवसमागमश्च (Śalya’s Reception, the Boon, and Meeting the Pāṇḍavas)
इस तरह (यात्रा करते हुए) शल्य किसी दूसरे सभाभवनमें गये, जो देवमन्दिरोंके समान प्रकाशित होता था। वहाँ उन्हें अलौकिक कल्याणमय भोग प्राप्त हुए ।।
tataḥ śalyaḥ sabhābhavanaṃ anyad agacchat, yad devamandiravat prakāśamānam āsīt; tatra cāsya alaukikāḥ kalyāṇamayā bhogāḥ prāptāḥ. mene ’bhyadhikam ātmānam avamene puraṃdaram | papraccha sa tataḥ preṣyān prahṛṣṭaḥ kṣatriyarṣabhaḥ ||
Continuando su viaje, Śalya entró en otro salón de asamblea, resplandeciente como un templo de los dioses. Allí se le ofrecieron deleites extraordinarios y auspiciosos. Exultante, aquel toro entre los kṣatriyas empezó a creerse supremamente afortunado; incluso Indra, el destructor de ciudades, le pareció insignificante en comparación. En esa euforia interrogó a sus servidores, deseoso de saber más.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how luxurious hospitality and sudden elevation can inflate ego: Śalya’s delight turns into self-exaltation and contempt even for Indra. Ethically, it warns that pleasure and honor can cloud judgment and invite moral vulnerability.
Śalya enters a brilliantly lit assembly-hall and receives extraordinary pleasures and honors. Overjoyed, he feels supremely fortunate and begins to look down even on Indra; in that mood he turns to his attendants and asks them questions, setting up the next narrative exchange.