Shloka 81
Kubera’s Fivefold Nīti and Protection of the Pāṇḍavas (वैश्रवणोपदेशः)
विलोड्यमाना: पश्येमा: करिभि: सकरेणुभि: । पश्येमां नलिनीं चान्यां कमलोत्पलमालिनीम्,“देखो, हथिनियोंसहित हाथी इन तालाबोंमें घुसकर इन्हें मथे डालते हैं और इस दूसरी पुष्करिणीपर दृष्टिपात करो, जो कमल और उत्पलकी मालाओंसे अलंकृत है। यह कमलमालाधारिणी साक्षात् दूसरी लक्ष्मीके समान मानो साकार विग्रह धारण करके प्रकट हुई है। गन्धमादनके इस उत्तम वनमें नाना प्रकारके कुसुमोंकी सुगन्धसे सुवासित ये छोटी- छोटी वनश्रेणियाँ भ्रमरोंके गीतोंसे मुखरित हो कैसी शोभा पा रही हैं? भीमसेन! देखो, यहाँके सुन्दर प्रदेशोंमें चारों ओर देवताओंकी क्रीडास्थली है
viloḍyamānāḥ paśyemāḥ karibhiḥ sakareṇubhiḥ | paśyemāṃ nalinīṃ cānyāṃ kamalotpalamālinīm ||
Vaiśampāyana disse: “Vede: estes tanques de lótus estão sendo revolvidos e agitados por elefantes, com poeira e borrifos. E vede aquele outro lago, adornado com grinaldas de lótus e de lótus azuis (utpala). Nesta excelente floresta de Gandhamādana, o ar está perfumado pela fragrância de muitas espécies de flores, e as pequenas elevações do bosque ressoam com os cantos das abelhas, brilhando de beleza. Bhīmasena, contempla: nestas regiões formosas, por toda parte, há como que parques de recreio dos deuses.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds reverent attention to sacred nature: the Pandavas’ journey includes learning to perceive the world as infused with divine presence. Ethical cultivation here is not a rule but a disposition—wonder, restraint, and attentiveness in a realm described as the devas’ playground.
Vaiśampāyana narrates a scene in Gandhamādana: the speakers point out ponds disturbed by elephants and another lake richly adorned with lotuses and blue lotuses, expanding into a broader description of fragrant groves and bee-song, and identifying the area as a divine pleasure-ground, addressed to Bhīma.