Shloka 4
Dāna-Śreṣṭhatā: Abhaya, Anugraha, and the Ethics of Honoring the Worthy (दानश्रेष्ठता: अभय-अनुग्रह-विप्रपूजा)
अन्तर्धानमकस्माच्च पुनरेव च दर्शनम् | पुनश्च शयनं विप्र दिवसानेकविंशतिम्
antardhānam akasmāc ca punar eva ca darśanam | punaś ca śayanaṁ vipra divasānekaviṁśatim ||
Kuśika berkata: “Kemudian, tanpa diduga, berlaku lenyapnya diri, dan sekali lagi muncul kembali. Dan sekali lagi, wahai brāhmaṇa, berlaku pula berbaring (seakan-akan tidur) selama dua puluh satu hari.”
कुशिक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights extraordinary, sudden shifts—disappearance, reappearance, and prolonged repose—often used in the Anuśāsana context to underscore the mysterious reach of tapas (ascetic power) and the need for steadiness and discernment when encountering marvels, rather than rash judgment.
Kuśika reports a sequence of events: someone (implicitly the subject of the story) vanishes unexpectedly, becomes visible again, and then lies down as if asleep for a prolonged period of twenty-one days, addressed to a brāhmaṇa listener.