Shloka 109
Adhyāya 90: Babhruvāhana’s Reception and the Commencement of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Aśvamedha
ततस्तु सक्तुगन्धेन क्लेदेन सलिलस्य च,तदनन्तर सत्तूकी गन्ध सूँघने, वहाँ गिरे हुए जलकी कीचसे सम्पर्क होने, वहाँ गिरे हुए दिव्य पुष्पोंको रौंदने और उन महात्मा ब्राह्मणके दान करते समय गिरे हुए अन्नके कणोंमें मन लगानेसे तथा उन उज्छवृत्तिधारी ब्राह्मणकी तपस्याके प्रभावसे मेरा मस्तक सोनेका हो गया
tatastu saktugandhena kledena salilasya ca | tadanantaraṁ sattūkī-gandha-sūṅghane tatra gireṇa jalasya kīcasa-saṁsparkaṇe tatra gireṇa divya-puṣpāṇāṁ rodanena ca | te mahātmanaḥ brāhmaṇasya dāna-kāle patiteṣv anna-kaṇeṣu manaḥ-pravṛttyā tathā ca tasya uñchavṛtti-dhāriṇaḥ brāhmaṇasya tapasāṁ prabhāvena mama mastakaṁ suvarṇam abhavat ||
Then, through the fragrance of parched grain, the dampness of water, the act of smelling that scent, the contact with the mud formed by the fallen water, the trampling of the divine flowers that had dropped there, and by fixing my mind on the grains of food that fell while that great-souled Brahmin was giving alms—together with the power of austerity of that Brahmin who lived by gleaning—my head became golden. The passage underscores how even seemingly small, reverent contacts with a life of charity and ascetic discipline can transform one’s condition, highlighting the moral potency of tapas and dāna.
श्षशुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the spiritual power of austerity (tapas) and the sanctity of charity (dāna) can produce profound transformation; even humble, reverent association—attention to fallen grains during almsgiving, contact with the place and remnants of a holy person’s acts—can generate merit and purification.
The speaker (identified as the father-in-law) explains the causes behind a miraculous change—his head becoming golden—attributing it to sensory contact (smell of parched grain, dampness of water), physical contact (mud from fallen water, trampling fallen divine flowers), and especially mental attention to grains dropped during a great Brahmin’s act of giving, empowered by that Brahmin’s ascetic practice of living by gleaning.