Shloka 35
Nakula’s Declaration and the Uñchavṛtti Brāhmaṇa’s Superior Merit (Āśvamedhika Parva, Adhyāya 92)
तथा कथयतां तेषां देवराज: पुरंदर:,निकामवर्षी पर्जन्यो बभूव जनमेजय । जनमेजय! जब ऋषि लोग ऐसी बातें कह रहे थे, उसी समय महा तेजस्वी देवराज इन्द्रने महर्षिका तपोबल देखकर पानी बरसाना आरम्भ किया। जबतक उस यज्ञकी समाप्ति नहीं हुई, तबतक अमितपराक्रमी इन्द्रने वहाँ इच्छानुसार वर्षा की
tathā kathayatāṃ teṣāṃ devarājaḥ purandaraḥ | nikāmavarṣī parjanyo babhūva janamejaya ||
Vaiśampāyana said: While those sages were speaking thus, O Janamejaya, Indra—the king of the gods, the slayer of fortresses—became like a rain-cloud that pours at will. Beholding the power of the sages’ austerities, the mighty lord began to send down rain; and until that sacrifice was brought to completion, Indra continued to shower there according to his desire, sustaining the rite and honoring the ascetics’ spiritual force.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the Mahābhārata’s ethic that spiritual discipline (tapas) and properly conducted sacrifice (yajña) draw supportive cosmic order: even Indra responds by sustaining the rite with timely rain, showing reverence for ascetic power and the sanctity of ritual duty.
As the sages continue their discourse, Vaiśampāyana tells Janamejaya that Indra, seeing the sages’ austerity, begins to rain like a cloud that pours at will, maintaining rainfall at the sacrificial site until the yajña is completed.