Shloka 74

Devanagari script

कपिलस्य च केदारं समासाद्य सुदुर्लभम्‌ । अन्तर्धानमवाप्रोति तपसा दग्धकिल्बिष:

Transliteration

kapilasya ca kedāraṃ samāsādya sudurlabham | antardhānam avāpnoti tapasā dagdhakilbiṣaḥ ||

Translation

Having reached the exceedingly hard-to-attain sacred field (kedāra) of Kapila, a person whose sins have been burned away by austerity attains the power of disappearance—becoming hidden from ordinary sight. The verse underscores an ethical logic central to the Mahābhārata: disciplined tapas purifies wrongdoing, and spiritual attainment follows inner cleansing rather than mere outward travel.

Word by Word

कपिलस्यof Kapila

चand

केदारम्Kedāra (the sacred place/field)

समासाद्यhaving reached/approached

सुदुर्लभम्very difficult to obtain/reach

अन्तर्धानम्disappearance; becoming invisible

अवाप्नोतिattains/obtains

तपसाby austerity/penance

दग्धburnt; destroyed

किल्बिषःone whose sins (are ...); a sinner (here: with sins destroyed)

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

Kapila

Kapila's Kedāra (sacred place)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Austerity (tapas) purifies sin (kilbiṣa), and spiritual attainments (such as antardhāna, becoming hidden) arise from that inner purification; sacred places are portrayed as powerful, but their fruits are linked to ethical and ascetic readiness.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker describes the extraordinary result associated with reaching Kapila’s rare sacred kedāra: one who has burned away sins through tapas gains the capacity for disappearance/invisibility, illustrating the potency of the tīrtha and the transformative role of ascetic discipline.