Shloka 115
Adhyāya 90: Babhruvāhana’s Reception and the Commencement of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Aśvamedha
सक्तुप्रस्थलवैस्तैरहि तदाहं काड्चनीकृत:
saktuprasthalavaistair ahi tadāhaṃ kāñcanīkṛtaḥ
“With those handfuls of parched grain and those measures of food, I was then, as it were, turned into gold—made radiant and blessed.” In the speaker’s moral framing, even a small offering given in the right spirit becomes spiritually transformative, elevating the giver beyond material poverty into inner worth and merit.
श्षशुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
That the ethical and spiritual value of a gift is not measured by its quantity but by sincerity, need, and right intention; even a meagre offering can ‘make one golden’—i.e., confer inner nobility and merit.
The speaker (identified as the śvaśura) reflects on receiving or giving simple food—parched grain in small measured amounts—and describes its effect as a profound transformation, using ‘made golden’ as a metaphor for being blessed and uplifted.