Shloka 8
धनंजयस्य आश्वासनम्
Dhanaṃjaya’s Reassurance and the Opening Engagement
तत्र देवास्त्रयस्त्रिंशत् तिष्ठन्ति सहवासवा: । गन्धर्वा राक्षसा: सर्पा: पितरक्ष महर्षिभि:
tatra devās trayastriṁśat tiṣṭhanti sahavāsavāḥ | gandharvā rākṣasāḥ sarpāḥ pitarakṣa maharṣibhiḥ |
तेथे वासव (इंद्र) यांच्यासह तेहतीस देव तेजस्वी रूपाने उभे होते. त्यांच्या बरोबर गंधर्व, राक्षस, नाग, पितर आणि महर्षीही उपस्थित होते—जणू विश्वधर्मव्यवस्थेचे साक्षीदारच एकत्र जमले होते.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes a vision of dharmic cosmos: sovereignty (Indra), ancestral authority (Pitṛs), and spiritual insight (Maharṣis) coexist as legitimizing witnesses. Power is shown as accountable to a larger moral and cosmic order.
Vaiśaṃpāyana describes a divine gathering where Indra and the thirty-three gods are present, accompanied by other classes of beings—Gandharvas, Rākṣasas, Nāgas, Pitṛs, and sages—forming a grand celestial assembly.