Shloka 8

Devanagari script

वानेयपुष्पनिकरैराज्यधूमोद्गमैरपि । ब्राह्मेण वपुषा युक्ता युक्तता मुनिगणस्य ता:,उन्होंने देखा, वहाँ आश्रमोंमें यज्ञकी वेदियाँ बनी हैं, जिनपर अग्निदेव प्रज्वलित हो रहे हैं। मुनिलोग स्नान करके उन वेदियोंके पास बैठे हैं और अग्निमें आहुति दे रहे हैं। वनके फूलों और घृतकी आहुतिसे उठे हुए धूमोंसे भी उन वेदियोंकी शोभा हो रही है। वहाँ निरन्तर वेदध्वनि होनेके कारण मानो वे वेदियाँ वेदमय शरीरसे संयुक्त जान पड़ती थीं। मुनियोंके समुदाय सदा उनसे सम्पर्क बनाये रखते थे

Transliteration

vāneyapuṣpanikarair ājyadhūmodgamair api | brāhmeṇa vapuṣā yuktā yuktatā munigaṇasya tāḥ ||

Translation

વૈશમ્પાયન બોલ્યા—વનફૂલોના ઢગલા અને ઘૃતાહુતિમાંથી ઊઠતા ધૂમ્રોદ્ગારો વડે તે યજ્ઞવેદીઓ અલંકૃત દેખાતી હતી. સતત વેદધ્વનિના કારણે તે જાણે બ્રાહ્મ—અર્થાત્ વેદમય—દેહથી યુક્ત હોય તેમ જણાતી; અને મુનિગણ નિયમબદ્ધ અનુષ્ઠાન-સેવા દ્વારા સદા તેમની સાથે સંલગ્ન રહેતા.

Word by Word

वानेयपुष्पनिकरैःby heaps of forest-flowers

आज्यधूमोद्गमैःby the upsurges of smoke from ghee (oblations)

अपिalso/even

ब्राह्मेणwith Vedic/sacred

वपुषाbody/form

युक्ताःendowed/connected

युक्तताम्connection/association

मुनिगणस्यof the group of sages

ताःthose (f.)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

muni-gaṇa (assemblies of sages)

vedī (sacrificial altar)

ājya (ghee oblation)

dhūma (smoke)

vāneya-puṣpa (forest flowers)

Veda (Vedic recitation/sound)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage highlights dharma as sustained practice: sacred order is maintained not by display but by disciplined ritual, purity, and continuous engagement with śruti (Vedic recitation). The ‘Veda-formed body’ imagery teaches that repeated, sincere practice makes a place—and the practitioners—permeated by brahmanic sanctity.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator describes the hermitage setting: sacrificial altars are active and beautiful, decorated by forest flowers and marked by smoke from ghee offerings, while groups of sages remain seated in steady ritual attendance amid constant Vedic sound.