Shloka 40
Kubera’s Fivefold Nīti and Protection of the Pāṇḍavas (वैश्रवणोपदेशः)
शरभोज्नादसंघुष्टं नानामृगनिषेवितम् | ते गन्धमादनवन तन्नन्दनवनोपमम्,शरभोंके सिंहनादसे वह पर्वत गूँजता रहता था। नाना प्रकारके मृग वहाँ निवास करते थे। गन्धमादन पर्वतका वह वन नन्दनवनके समान मन और हृदयको आनन्द देनेवाला था। वे वीर पाण्डुकुमार बड़े प्रसन्न होकर क्रमश: उस सुन्दर काननमें प्रविष्ट हुए, जो सबको शरण देनेवाला था
śarabhodnāda-saṃghuṣṭaṃ nānā-mṛga-niṣevitam | te gandhamādana-vanaṃ tan nandana-vanopamam ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana disse: “Aquela floresta em Gandhamādana ressoava com os brados dos śarabha e era frequentada por muitas espécies de animais selvagens. O bosque ali era como o próprio Nandana—deleitando mente e coração. Regozijados, os heroicos filhos de Pāṇḍu entraram aos poucos naquele belo arvoredo, refúgio de todos.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how a righteous journey through hardship (the Pāṇḍavas’ exile) is sustained by moments of beauty and refuge in nature. The forest is portrayed as a shelter for beings, suggesting an ethical ideal of the world as a shared sanctuary where life is protected and supported.
The narrator describes the Gandhamādana woodland: it echoes with the calls of śarabhas, is inhabited by many animals, and resembles Indra’s celestial Nandana grove in its delightfulness. The Pāṇḍavas, pleased and confident, proceed step by step into this welcoming forest.