Shloka 83
Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)
यावन्त्यस्य शरीरेषु रोमकूपाणि भारत । तावन्त्यब्दसहस््राणि स्वर्गे वसति मानव:
yāvanty asya śarīreṣu romakūpāṇi bhārata | tāvanty abdasahasrāṇi svarge vasati mānavaḥ ||
Dewa Vāyu bersabda: “Wahai Bhārata, sebanyak pori-pori rambut yang ada pada tubuh manusia, sebanyak itu pula ribuan tahun orang yang melafalkan kidung pujian ini akan berdiam di surga.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches the doctrine of extraordinary spiritual merit (puṇya) accruing from faithful recitation of a sacred hymn: devotion expressed through praise and repetition is portrayed as a powerful dharmic act that yields immense heavenly reward.
Vāyu-deva is describing the fruit (phala) of reciting a particular stotra mentioned in the surrounding passage, quantifying the reward hyperbolically: the reciter is said to dwell in Svarga for as many thousands of years as there are hair-pores on the human body.