Shloka 47
Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)
तत्रस्थेन स्तुतो देव: प्राह मां वै नरेश्वर । मोक्ष प्राप्स्यसि शूलाच्च जीविष्यसि समार्बुदम्
tatra-sthena stuto devaḥ prāha māṃ vai nareśvara | mokṣaṃ prāpsyasi śūlāc ca jīviṣyasi samārbudam ||
ಮಾಂಡವ್ಯನು ಹೇಳಿದನು— ಓ ನರೇಶ್ವರ! ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಶೂಲದ ಮೇಲೆ ಇದ್ದಾಗಲೇ ನಾನು ದೇವರನ್ನು ಸ್ತುತಿಸಿದೆ. ಆಗ ಆ ದೇವನು ನನಗೆ ಹೇಳಿದನು— “ನೀನು ಶೂಲದಿಂದ ಮೋಕ್ಷವನ್ನು ಪಡೆಯುವೆ; ಹತ್ತು ಕೋಟಿ ವರ್ಷಗಳವರೆಗೆ ಜೀವಿಸುವೆ.”
माण्डव्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when worldly justice fails and one suffers undeserved punishment, steadfast devotion and inner integrity can become the ground for divine intervention; the episode also raises ethical questions about the limits and errors of human judgment in administering punishment.
The sage Māṇḍavya, speaking to a king, recounts that while he was impaled on a stake he praised the deity; the god then assured him of release from the stake and an extraordinarily long life (ten crores of years).