Shloka 46
Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)
युधिष्ठिर महायोगी वीर्यवानक्षयोडव्यय: । 'सावर्णिक मन्वन्तरके समय जो सृष्टि होगी
Māṇḍavya uvāca—acauras tvaṁ caurasaṅkāyāṁ śūle bhinno hāhaṁ tadā.
माण्डव्य उवाच— अचौरशङ्कया राजन् शूले भिन्नोऽहमास तदा। तत्रैव स्तुतवान् देवं महादेवं शङ्करं प्रभुम्। स च मामब्रवीद्— “विप्रवर, शूलात् प्रमोक्ष्यसे; समार्बुदं वर्षाणि जीविष्यसि। शूलेन विद्धेऽपि देहे ते न भविष्यति वेदना; आधिव्याधिविनिर्मुक्तो भविष्यसि।”
माण्डव्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the ethical danger of punishing on mere suspicion and the endurance of an innocent ascetic who turns suffering into devotion; it also presents divine grace as a response to steadfast praise and purity, granting freedom from pain and affliction.
Māṇḍavya recounts to Yudhiṣṭhira that he was wrongly impaled as a suspected thief; while on the stake he praised Śiva, who then promised his release, extraordinary longevity, and freedom from pain, disease, and mental distress.