Shloka 43
Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)
प्रीतश्च भगवान् ज्ञानं ददौ मम भवान्तकम् | “तत्पश्चात् वहाँ सांख्यके आचार्य देवसम्मानित कपिलने कहा--“मैंने भी अनेक जन्मोंतक भक्तिभावसे भगवान् शंकरकी आराधना की थी। इससे प्रसन्न होकर भगवानने मुझे भवभयनाशक ज्ञान प्रदान किया था”
prītaś ca bhagavān jñānaṃ dadau mama bhavāntakam | tatpaścāt sa vai sāṅkhyake ācāryaḥ devasammānitaḥ kapila uvāca— mayāpi anekajanmāntaraṃ bhaktibhāvena bhagavataḥ śaṅkarasya ārādhanā kṛtā | tena prasannaḥ bhagavān me bhavabhayanāśakaṃ jñānaṃ pradadau | sāvarṇasya manoḥ sarge saptarṣiś ca bhaviṣyati | vedānāṃ ca sa vai vaktā kuruvaṃśakaraḥ tathā ||
Vaiśampāyana berkata: Dengan berkenan, Tuhan Yang Mulia menganugerahkan kepadaku pengetahuan yang menamatkan ketakutan terhadap kelahiran-berulang dalam saṃsāra. Sesudah itu, guru Sāṅkhya, Kapila—yang dihormati bahkan oleh para dewa—menyatakan: “Aku juga, sepanjang banyak kelahiran, telah memuja Śaṅkara dengan bhakti. Setelah berkenan, Sang Tuhan mengurniakan kepadaku pengetahuan yang memusnahkan ketakutan akan saṃsāra. Dalam kitaran penciptaan Sāvarṇa Manu, dia akan menjadi salah seorang daripada Tujuh Ṛṣi; dia juga akan menjadi pengajar Veda dan pengasas keturunan Kuru.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Devotion (bhakti) to Śaṅkara culminates in liberating knowledge (jñāna) that destroys fear of saṃsāra; spiritual authority is grounded in both practice (worship across lives) and realized insight.
Vaiśampāyana reports that the Lord granted him fear-destroying knowledge; then Kapila, the revered Sāṅkhya teacher, recounts his own long devotion to Śiva and the resulting gift of liberating knowledge, along with a prophetic note about roles in Sāvarṇa Manu’s era (as a saptarṣi and Vedic teacher connected with the Kuru line).