Mahabharata 9.40.2 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 40, Shloka 2
Baka Dālbhya at Avakīrṇa-tīrtha: Rāṣṭra-kṣaya and Release through Prasāda (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 40)
देवापिश्न कथं ब्रह्मन् विश्वामित्रश्न सत्तम । तन्ममाचक्ष्व भगवन् परं कौतूहलं हि मे
Janamejaya uvāca | devāpiś ca kathaṃ brahman viśvāmitraś ca sattama | tan mamācakṣva bhagavan paraṃ kautūhalaṃ hi me ||
ಜನಮೇಜಯನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ಓ ಬ್ರಹ್ಮನ್, ಸತ್ಪುರುಷಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠನೇ! ದೇವಾಪಿ ಹೇಗೆ (ಅಂತಹ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಗೆ) ಬಂದನು? ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ವಿಶ್ವಾಮಿತ್ರನು ಹೇಗೆ? ಭಗವನ್, ನನಗೆ ತಿಳಿಸಿರಿ; ನನಗೆ ಪರಮ ಕುತೂಹಲವಾಗಿದೆ।
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the dharmic value of sincere inquiry (jijñāsā): moral and spiritual understanding grows through respectful questioning of the wise, especially about how merit and discipline (tapas) can transform one’s status and character.
King Janamejaya addresses the sage-narrator with intense curiosity, asking for an explanation of Devāpi and Viśvāmitra—figures linked with extraordinary ascetic effort and attainment—so that their life-stories and the means of their spiritual standing may be recounted.
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