Shloka 37
Lokapāla-samāgamaḥ—Arjuna Receives Astras from the World-Guardians
Book 3, Chapter 42
गुहाकानामृषीणां च तथैवाप्सरसां गणान् | लोकानात्मप्रभान् पश्यन् फाल्गुनो विस्मयान्वित:,सैकड़ों झुंड-के-झुंड तपस्वी पुरुष स्वर्गमें जा रहे थे, जिन्होंने तपस्याद्वारा उसपर विजय पायी थी। सूर्यके समान प्रकाशमान सहस्रों गन्धर्वों, गुह्कों, ऋषियों तथा अप्सराओंके समूहोंको और उनके स्वतः प्रकाशित होनेवाले लोकोंको देखकर अर्जुनको बड़ा आश्चर्य होता था
guhakānām ṛṣīṇāṃ ca tathaivāpsarasāṃ gaṇān | lokān ātmaprabhān paśyan phālguno vismayānvitaḥ ||
Disse Vaiśampāyana: Quando Phālguna (Arjuna) contemplou hostes de Guhyakas, de sábios ṛṣis e, do mesmo modo, companhias de Apsaras—e os seus reinos que resplandeciam por uma luz inerente, nascida de si—ficou tomado de assombro. A cena evoca a ordem moral do cosmos: pela austeridade e pelo mérito, os seres alcançam mundos luminosos, e o buscador disciplinado se humilha diante da vasta hierarquia das realizações espirituais.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a dharmic cosmos where spiritual effort (tapas) and accumulated merit correspond to higher, radiant realms. Arjuna’s wonder underscores humility before the vast gradations of attainment and the reality of unseen orders beyond the human world.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that Arjuna (Phālguna) is witnessing great hosts of celestial and semi-celestial beings—Guhyakas, sages, and Apsarases—along with their naturally radiant worlds, and he is astonished by the spectacle.