Shloka 326
आपगामवगाढस्य राजन प्रक्रीडितं महत् । राजन! कुमारावस्थासे ही ब्रह्मचर्यव्रतका पालन तथा प्रतिदिन सरस्वती नदीमें स्नान करनेवाले मंकणक मुनिका महान् लीलामय चरित्र सुनो
āpāgām avagāḍhasya rājan prakrīḍitaṃ mahat | rājan! kumārāvasthāse hi brahmacaryavratakā pālana tathā pratidina sarasvatī-nadīṃ snāna-karṇavāle maṅkaṇaka-muneḥ mahān līlāmaya-caritraṃ śṛṇu |
Vaiśampāyana berkata: “Wahai Raja, dengarlah kisah besar yang bersifat lila—episod yang penuh permainan—tentang resi Maṅkaṇaka: bagaimana ketika tenggelam dalam aliran sungai, baginda berkelakuan gagah dalam permainan; dan bagaimana sejak zaman kanak-kanaknya lagi, beliau memelihara ikrar brahmacarya serta mandi setiap hari di sungai Sarasvatī.” Naratif ini menonjolkan kekuatan disiplin dan nazar, serta peringatan halus bahawa bahkan kebanggaan rohani dan kegembiraan yang meluap perlu ditadbir.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical value of sustained discipline—especially brahmacarya and regular purificatory practice—while preparing the listener for a story that also cautions that even spiritual achievement can be accompanied by exuberance that must be governed by humility and self-control.
Vaiśampāyana addresses the King and introduces an upcoming episode about the sage Maṅkaṇaka: his great, playful act while immersed in a river-stream, along with background details that he observed brahmacarya from boyhood and bathed daily in the Sarasvatī.