Shloka 13
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 101: Bhogavatī-varṇana, Nāga-vaṃśa-kathana, and Sumukha-vivāha-prastāva
सुधाहारेषु च सुधां स्वधाभोजिषु च स्वधाम् । अमृतं चामृताशेषु सुरभी क्षरते पय:
sudhāhāreṣu ca sudhāṁ svadhābhojiṣu ca svadhām | amṛtaṁ cāmṛtāśeṣeṣu surabhī kṣarate payaḥ ||
നാരദൻ പറഞ്ഞു—സുധയെ ആഹാരമാക്കുന്നവർക്കു സുധ തന്നെയാണ്; സ്വധയെ ഭോജിക്കുന്നവർക്കു സ്വധ തന്നെയാണ്; അമൃതത്തെയേ ആശ്രയിക്കുന്നവർക്കു അമൃതം തന്നെയാണ്—സുരഭി അതനുസരിച്ച് പാലൊഴുക്കുന്നു.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches proportionality in the moral-cosmic economy: beings receive sustenance that matches their nature, realm, and earned station—nectar for nectar-sustained beings, svadhā for those linked to ancestral rites, and amṛta for the deathless. Surabhī symbolizes the world’s capacity to yield results in accordance with dharma and rightful entitlement.
Nārada is describing a wondrous, orderly distribution of divine sustenance. By invoking Surabhī’s milk and the distinct ‘foods’ of different classes of beings (nectar, svadhā, amṛta), he illustrates how higher realms function under a consistent law of correspondence between conduct/status and the fruits received.