Shloka 38

Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)

Devanagari script

गर्ग उवाच चतुःषष्ट्यड्रमददत्‌ कलाज्ञानं ममाद्भुतम्‌ | सरस्वत्यास्तटे तुष्टो मनोयज्ञेन पाण्डव

Transliteration

garga uvāca catuḥṣaṣṭy-aḍramadadat kalājñānaṃ mamādbhutam | sarasvatyās taṭe tuṣṭo manoyajñena pāṇḍava ||

Translation

ಗರ್ಗನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ಓ ಪಾಂಡವ! ಸರಸ್ವತಿಯ ತೀರದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾನು ಮನೋಯಜ್ಞದಿಂದ ಶರ್ವನನ್ನು (ಶಿವನನ್ನು) ಪ್ರಸನ್ನಗೊಳಿಸಿದೆನು. ಸಂತುಷ್ಟನಾದ ಅವನು ನನಗೆ ಅರವತ್ತನಾಲ್ಕು ಕಲಗಳ ಅದ್ಭುತ ಜ್ಞಾನವನ್ನು ದಯಪಾಲಿಸಿದನು.

Word by Word

• गर्गः: Garga
• गर्गः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गर्ग
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• उवाच: said
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: Perfect, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• चतुःषष्टिः: sixty-four
• चतुःषष्टिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: चतुःषष्टि
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• अददत्: gave
• Type: Verb
• Root: दा
• Form: Imperfect, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• कलाज्ञानम्: knowledge of the arts
• कलाज्ञानम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कलाज्ञान
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• मम: of me / my
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: —, Genitive, Singular

• अद्भुतम्: wonderful, marvelous
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अद्भुत
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• सरस्वत्याः: of Sarasvatī
• Type: Noun
• Root: सरस्वती
• Form: Feminine, Genitive, Singular

• तटे: on the bank
• तटे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: तट
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• तुष्टः: pleased, satisfied
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तुष्ट
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• मनोयज्ञेन: by a mental sacrifice
• मनोयज्ञेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मनोयज्ञ
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• पाण्डव: O Pāṇḍava
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाण्डव
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

गर्ग उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Garga
• Pāṇḍava (descendant of Pāṇḍu)
• Sarasvatī (river)
• Śiva

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Inner worship (mānasa-yajña) and sincere devotion can be as spiritually efficacious as external ritual, leading to the bestowal of knowledge and divine favor.

What is happening in the narrative?

Garga recounts to a Pāṇḍava that he performed a mental sacrifice on the Sarasvatī’s bank, pleased Śiva, and received from him extraordinary knowledge of the sixty-four arts as a boon.