Shloka 52
Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)
गालव उवाच विश्वामित्रा भ्यनुज्ञातो हाहं पितरमागत:
Gālava uvāca: Viśvāmitrābhyanujñāto hāhaṁ pitaram āgataḥ; na tāta taruṇa dāntaṁ pitā tvāṁ paśyate ’nagha.
Gālava berkata: “Wahai Raja, setelah mendapat izin daripada Viśvāmitra, aku pulang ke rumah untuk menatap ayahku. Namun, malang sekali—wahai anak yang tidak bercela—ayahmu tidak sempat melihatmu: engkau masih muda, menundukkan indera, dan bebas daripada noda.”
गालव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when one fulfills a guru’s command and gains learning and discipline, worldly life remains impermanent; therefore, one should act dutifully without delay and with awareness that opportunities—such as seeing one’s parents—may not return.
Gālava, having obtained leave from his teacher Viśvāmitra, comes home intending to see his father. His mother, overwhelmed by widowhood and grief, laments that his father is no longer alive to behold his accomplished, self-controlled son.