Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 4
स ता: पिबन् क्षीरमिव नातृप्पत महामना: । अपूरयन्महौघेन महीं सर्वा च पार्थिव
sa tāḥ piban kṣīram iva nātṛppata mahāmanāḥ | apūrayan mahaughena mahīṃ sarvāṃ ca pārthiva ||
महामना ऋषि ने उन जलों को दूध की भाँति पी लिया, फिर भी तृप्त न हुए। तत्पश्चात्, हे राजन्, उन्होंने महान् प्रवाह छोड़कर समस्त पृथ्वी को फिर से जल से भर दिया।
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the immense efficacy of tapas and brahminical spiritual power: it can deplete even the world’s waters, yet it can also restore them. Ethically, it suggests that true power is not mere consumption but the capacity to re-establish balance and welfare.
A great sage drinks up the waters of the earth without being satiated; afterward he causes a mighty flood or stream to flow and thereby refills the entire earth with water, narrated to a king as an illustration of extraordinary ascetic potency.