Shloka 59
Bhāgīratha’s Tapas and the Petition to Gaṅgā (गङ्गावतरण-प्रसङ्गः)
आजगाम हयं गृह यज्ञवार्ट महात्मन: । सो5भिवाद्य तत: पादौ सगरस्य महात्मन:,“तात! महात्मा सगरका यज्ञ पूर्ण करो।” महात्मा कपिलके ऐसा कहनेपर अंशुमान् उस अश्वको लेकर महामना सगरके यज्ञमण्डपमें आये और उनके चरणोंमें प्रणाम करके उनसे सब समाचार निवेदन किया। सगरने भी स्नेहसे अंशुमान्का मस्तक सूँघा। अंशुमानने सगर- पुत्रोंका विनाश जैसा देखा और सुना था, वह सब बताया, साथ ही यह भी कहा कि *यज्ञिय अश्व यज्ञममण्डपमें आ गया है।” यह सुनकर राजा सगरने पुत्रोंके मरनेका दुःख त्याग दिया
ājagāma hayaṁ gṛhaṁ yajñavāṭaṁ mahātmanaḥ | so ’bhivādya tataḥ pādau sagarasya mahātmanaḥ |
The sacrificial horse returned to the great king’s ritual enclosure. Having arrived, Aṁśumān bowed in reverence at the feet of the noble King Sagara and reported all that had occurred—how Sagara’s sons had perished and how the consecrated horse had been recovered and brought back to the yajña. Hearing that the rite could now be completed, Sagara set aside his grief for his sons, steadied by the higher duty of fulfilling the sacrifice and the larger good bound up with it.
सगर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights a king’s dharma: even amid personal loss, he must uphold responsibility to the larger order—here symbolized by completing the yajña. It also shows the ethical tension between grief and duty, and the stabilizing role of righteous action.
Aṁśumān returns with the sacrificial horse to Sagara’s ritual enclosure, bows at Sagara’s feet, and reports the fate of Sagara’s sons along with the recovery of the horse. On hearing that the sacrifice can be completed, Sagara restrains his sorrow and turns to the rite.