Shloka 9
Ṛśyaśṛṅga’s Luring, Rainfall at Aṅga, and Reconciliation with Vibhāṇḍaka (ऋश्यशृङ्गोपाख्यानम्)
संस्थाप्य तामाश्रमदर्शने तु संतारितां नावमथातिशु भ्राम् । नीरादुपादाय तथैव चक्रे नाव्याश्रमं नाम वन विचित्रम्,नाविकोंद्वारा संचालित उस अत्यन्त उज्ज्वल नौकाको जलसे बाहर निकालकर राजाने एक स्थानपर स्थापित कर दिया और जितनी दूरीसे वह नौकागत आश्रम दिखायी देता था, उतनी दूरीके विस्तृत मैदानमें उन्होंने ऋष्यशृंग मुनिके आश्रम-जैसे ही एक विचित्र वनका निर्माण करा दिया, जो '“नाव्याश्रम” के नामसे प्रसिद्ध हुआ
saṁsthāpya tām āśramadarśane tu saṁtāritāṁ nāvam athātiśubhrām | nīrād upādāya tathaiva cakre nāvyāśramaṁ nāma vana-vicitram ||
Having brought that exceedingly bright boat safely across, the king drew it out of the water and set it in a place from which an ashram could be seen. Then, over a wide open tract extending as far as the boat-borne hermitage appeared to the eye, he caused a wondrous forest to be fashioned—made to resemble Ṛṣyaśṛṅga’s hermitage—so that it became renowned by the name “Nāvyāśrama” (the ‘Boat-Hermitage’). The episode underscores a deliberate use of artifice to shape perception, raising an ethical tension between ingenuity and deception in pursuit of one’s aims.
विभाण्डक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how carefully engineered appearances can influence conduct and outcomes. It invites ethical reflection: ingenuity and royal power can create convincing simulations of sacred spaces, but such contrivance also risks crossing into deception, testing the boundaries of dharma in pursuit of desired ends.
After ferrying the splendid boat across, the king removes it from the water and positions it where a hermitage can be seen. He then has a wide area fashioned into a remarkable forest that imitates the look and feel of an ashram—named Nāvyāśrama—serving as a staged setting within the larger Ṛṣyaśṛṅga-related episode.