Shloka 120
कृतयुगवर्णनम् तथा राजधर्मोपदेशः
Kṛtayuga Description and Instruction on Royal Dharma
गन्धर्वाप्सरसो यक्षानषींश्वैव महीपते । देत्यदानवसड्घांश्व नागांश्न मनुजाधिप
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 dijo: «Oh rey, contemplé a los Gandharvas y a las Apsaras, a los Yakṣas y a los Ṛṣis; huestes de Daityas y Dānavas; y también a los Nāgas, oh señor de los hombres. Oh soberano de la tierra, vi asimismo a los Sādhyas, a los Rudras, a los Ādityas, a los Guhyakas y a los Pitṛs; serpientes y Nāgas, Suparṇas, a los Vasus y a los gemelos Aśvin; Gandharvas, Apsaras, Yakṣas y muchos otros. Vi las asambleas de Daityas y Dānavas, a los Nāgas, y a los hijos de Siṃhikā (como Rāhu), y a otros enemigos de los dioses. Oh rey, cuanto había visto en este mundo—todo, lo inmóvil y lo móvil—se me hizo visible dentro del vientre de aquel magnánimo. Y, oh gran rey, vivo alimentándome de frutos cada día y vagando por todo este mundo.»
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.