Shloka 81
Duḥṣantasya Vana-praveśaḥ
King Duḥṣanta’s Entry into the Forest Hunt
ततो लब्धवरा प्रीता स्त्रीभावगुण भूषिता । जगाम सह संसर्गमृषिणाद्भधुतकर्मणा,तस्या योजनगन्धेति ततो नामापरं स्मृतम् । तदनन्तर वरदान पाकर प्रसन्न हुई सत्यवती नारीपनके समागमोचित गुण (सद्यः ऋतुस्नान आदि)-से विभूषित हो गयी और उसने अद्धुतकर्मा महर्षि पराशरके साथ समागम किया। उसके शरीरसे उत्तम गन्ध फैलनेके कारण पृथ्वीपर उसका गन्धवती नाम विख्यात हो गया। इस पृथ्वीपर एक योजन दूरके मनुष्य भी उसकी दिव्य सुगन्धका अनुभव करते थे। इस कारण उसका दूसरा नाम योजनगन्धा हो गया
tato labdhavarā prītā strībhāvaguṇa-bhūṣitā | jagāma saha saṁsargam ṛṣiṇādbhuta-karmaṇā | tasyā yojana-gandheti tato nāmāparaṁ smṛtam ||
Then Satyavatī, delighted at having obtained the boon and adorned with the qualities befitting a woman’s state, entered into union with the wondrously powerful sage. Because a fine fragrance spread from her body, she became renowned on earth by another name—Yojanagandhā, “she whose scent reaches a yojana.” The episode frames the boon as transforming her social and bodily condition, and it introduces the ethical tension between desire, consent through boons, and the far-reaching consequences of a private act for dynastic history.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how boons and personal choices can reshape identity and social standing, while also implying that private actions may carry public, dynastic consequences. It invites reflection on dharma in situations where desire, consent, and power intersect.
After receiving a boon, Satyavatī becomes endowed with qualities suitable for conjugal union and joins with the sage Parāśara. As a result of her newly divine fragrance, she gains the epithet “Yojanagandhā,” famed for a scent perceptible from a yojana away.