Shloka 20
Mātali’s Proposal for Guṇakeśī and Sumukha’s Audience with Indra
मातलिने कहा--देवर्षे! यह जो कौरव्य और आर्यकके आगे कान्तिमान् और दर्शनीय नागकुमार खड़ा है, किसके कुलको आनन्दित करनेवाला है? ।।
Mātaline uvāca—Devarṣe! ya eṣa Kauravya-Āryakayoḥ agre kāntimān darśanīyaś ca nāgakumāraḥ tiṣṭhati, kasya kulam ānandayan? Kaḥ pitā jananī cāsya? katamasya eṣa bhoginaḥ? vaṁśasya kasya eṣa mahān ketubhūta iva sthitaḥ?
Mātali disse: “Ó devarṣi! Este jovem Nāga, radiante e belo, que está diante de Kauravya e Āryaka—de que linhagem ele é a alegria? Quem são seu pai e sua mãe? Neto de qual senhor das serpentes ele é? E para que estirpe ele se ergue como um grande estandarte, aumentando-lhe o esplendor?”
कण्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the dharmic importance of knowing one’s origins and responsibilities: lineage is not mere pride, but a marker of duty, reputation, and the ethical expectations carried by a person who ‘stands like a banner’ for a family.
Mātali, addressing a divine seer, points out a splendid young Nāga standing before Kauravya and Āryaka and asks for his identification—his parents, his grandfather among the serpent-lords, and the lineage whose glory he represents.