Shloka 15
Uttaṅka’s Petition for Madayantī’s Divine Earrings (Maṇikuṇḍala) — Agreement, Proof, and Vigilance
उत्तडुक उवाच भवद्गतेन मनसा भवत्प्रियचिकीर्षया । भवद्धक्तिगतेनेह भवद्धावानुगेन च
uttaḍuka uvāca: bhavad-gatena manasā bhavat-priya-cikīrṣayā | bhavad-bhakti-gateneha bhavad-dhāvānugena ca ||
Uttaḍuka dit : «Ô maître vénérable ! L’esprit fixé sur toi, désireux d’accomplir ce qui t’est agréable, et voué à toi seul, je suis demeuré ici à ton service, te suivant avec un attachement inébranlable. Absorbé dans ma dévotion envers toi, je n’ai recherché ni les plaisirs du monde, ni même remarqué l’approche de la vieillesse. Bien que cent années se soient écoulées depuis que je demeure ici, tu ne m’as pas encore accordé la permission de retourner chez moi.»
उत्तडुक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Single-pointed devotion expressed as sustained service: the speaker claims that dedication to the revered person (guru/elder) can eclipse worldly pleasures and even the awareness of time and aging, but also implies an ethical need for proper closure—permission to return home after fulfilling service.
Uttaḍuka addresses his superior, explaining that he has spent a very long time (said to be a hundred years) serving with unwavering devotion and without seeking worldly comforts, and he laments that he has not yet been granted leave to go back home.