Shloka 33
Kṛṣṇasya Dvārakā-praveśaḥ — Krishna’s Return to Dvārakā and the Raivataka Festival
इतो हि नागलोको वै योजनानि सहस्रश: । न दण्डकाष्ठसाध्यं च मन्ये कार्यमिदं तव,वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--राजन्! इन्द्र उत्तंकके दुःखसे दुःखी थे। अतः ब्राह्मणका वेष बनाकर उनसे बोले--“ब्रह्मन! यह काम तुम्हारे वशका नहीं है। नागलोक यहाँसे हजारों योजन दूर है। इस काठके डंडेसे वहाँका रास्ता बने, यह कार्य सधनेवाला नहीं जान पड़ता”
ito hi nāgaloko vai yojanāni sahasraśaḥ | na daṇḍakāṣṭhasādhyaṃ ca manye kāryam idaṃ tava ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “From here, the realm of the Nāgas lies thousands of yojanas away. And I judge that this task of yours cannot be accomplished by means of a mere wooden staff.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights discernment (viveka): some aims cannot be achieved by inadequate means. Ethical effort should be paired with realistic assessment and proper guidance, rather than stubborn persistence with ineffective tools.
The narrator states that Nāgaloka is extremely far away—thousands of yojanas—and remarks that the intended undertaking cannot be completed using only a wooden staff, setting up the need for a different method or divine assistance in the quest connected with the Nāgas.