Shloka 28
Aṣṭāvakra–Bandi Vāda at Janaka’s Assembly
Numerical Cosmology and Restitution
राजोवाच किंस्वित् सुप्तं न निमिषति किंस्विज्जातं न चोपति | कस्य स्विद्धुदयं नास्ति किं स्विद् वेगेन वर्धते,राजाने पूछा--सोते समय कौन नेत्र नहीं मूँदता, जन्म लेनेके बाद किसमें गति नहीं होती, किसके हृदय नहीं होता और कौन वेगसे बढ़ता है?
rājovāca kiṃsvit suptaṃ na nimiṣati kiṃsvij jātaṃ na copati | kasya svid hṛdayaṃ nāsti kiṃ svid vegena vardhate ||
The king asked: “What is it that, even when asleep, does not blink? What is it that, once born, does not move onward? Who is without a heart? And what is it that grows swiftly with speed?”
अद्टावक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a set of riddling questions to sharpen discernment: it pushes the listener to look beyond surface appearances and identify underlying truths about life, motion, inner essence (hṛdaya), and the forces that rapidly increase—an ethical-intellectual exercise typical of wisdom dialogues in the Mahābhārata.
In a wisdom exchange, the king poses a sequence of riddles (four linked questions). The questions are designed to test the respondent’s insight and readiness for higher instruction, a common narrative device in the Vana Parva’s didactic episodes.