Shloka 26

Adhyāya 160: Dikpāla-Cosmography and the Sun’s Kālacakra (दिक्पाल-विश्ववर्णनम् तथा आदित्यस्य कालचक्रम्)

Devanagari script

अप्सरोभि: परिवृत: समृद्धया नरवाहन: । इह वैश्रवणस्तात पर्वसंधिषु दृश्यते,तात! पर्वोकी संधिके समय यहाँ मनुष्योंपर सवार होनेवाले कुबेर अप्सराओंसे घिरकर अपने अतुल वैभवके साथ दिखायी देते हैं

Transliteration

apsarobhiḥ parivṛtaḥ samṛddhayā naravāhanaḥ | iha vaiśravaṇas tāta parvasaṃdhiṣu dṛśyate, tāta ||

Translation

Sang resi berkata: “Wahai anakku, di sini, pada pertemuan-pertemuan pegunungan, Vaiśravaṇa (Kubera) tampak—menaiki tandu yang dipanggul manusia, dikelilingi para apsaras, serta memancarkan kemegahan yang melimpah.”

Word by Word

अप्सरोभिःby/with the apsarases

परिवृतःsurrounded

समृद्धयाwith prosperity/splendor

नरवाहनःKubera (he whose vehicle is men)

इहhere

वैश्रवणःVaiśravaṇa (Kubera)

तातdear one / O father

पर्वसन्धिषुat the junctions of the mountains

दृश्यतेis seen/appears

तातO dear one

Speaker

आर्शिषिण उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśravaṇa (Kubera)

Apsarases

Parvasaṃdhi (mountain junctions/passes)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights that divine order and prosperity are not random but manifest in meaningful, liminal spaces (like mountain junctions). It encourages reverence for sacred places and attentiveness to signs of cosmic governance—wealth and splendor are portrayed as attributes of a deity functioning within dharmic order.

What is happening in the narrative?

A sage describes a vision/report of Kubera (Vaiśravaṇa), the lord of wealth, appearing at mountain junctions or passes, surrounded by apsarases and endowed with great splendor, addressing the listener affectionately as “tāta.”