Shloka 22
Jabali Bound by the Monkey — Jabali Bound by the Monkey: Nandayanti’s Ordeal and the Yamuna–Hiranyavati Sacred Corridor
न सो ऽस्ति पुरुषः कश्चिद् यस्तं ब्रूयात् तपोधनम् यथा स तनयस्तुभ्यमुद्बद्धो वटपादपे
na so 'sti puruṣaḥ kaścid yastaṃ brūyāt tapodhanam yathā sa tanayastubhyamudbaddho vaṭapādape
“ഹേ തപോധനേ! നിന്റെ പുത്രൻ വടപാദപത്തിൽ എങ്ങനെ ബന്ധിക്കപ്പെട്ടുവെന്നു നിന്നോട് പറയാൻ കഴിയുന്ന ഒരാളും ഇല്ല.”
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FAQs
It is a respectful epithet meaning her true ‘wealth’ is tapas—endurance, vow-observance, or accumulated merit. Even if she is not a formal ascetic, the phrase elevates her spiritual stature and frames the coming revelation as deserved.
Udbaddha commonly means fastened or suspended. In this context it indicates the child is bound up at the banyan locus—either literally (tied/hung on the tree) or ritually/mythically (placed under the tree’s divine jurisdiction). The verse stresses the event’s extraordinary, hard-to-explain nature.
It contrasts ordinary human testimony with tīrtha-revelation: worldly inquiry fails, but the sacred site itself (through an oracular voice) becomes the channel of knowledge. This is a common Purāṇic narrative move to privilege tīrtha authority over mundane report.