Shloka 603
Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)
युधिष्टिरं धर्मनिरधि पुरुहृतमिवेश्वर: । वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--जनमेजय! मुनियोंके कहे हुए महादेवजीके ये अद्भुत चरित्र सुनकर पाण्डुनन्दन युधिष्ठिरको बड़ा विस्मय हुआ। फिर बुद्धिमानोंमें श्रेष्ठ श्रीकृष्णने धर्मनिधि युधिष्ठिरसे उसी प्रकार कहा जैसे श्रीविष्णु देवराज इन्द्रसे कोई बात कहा करते हैं
Vaiśampāyana uvāca — Janamejaya! munibhiḥ kathitāni mahādevasya etāni adbhutāni caritrāṇi śrutvā pāṇḍunandanaḥ yudhiṣṭhiraḥ mahān vismayaṃ jagāma. tataḥ buddhimatāṃ śreṣṭhaḥ śrīkṛṣṇaḥ dharmanidhiṃ yudhiṣṭhiram evaṃ uvāca, yathā śrīviṣṇuḥ devarājaṃ indram prati kiñcid vadati.
वैशम्पायन उवाच— जनमेजय! मुनिभिः कथितान् महादेवस्यैतानद्भुतचरितान् श्रुत्वा पाण्डुनन्दनो धर्मनिधिर्युधिष्ठिरो महद्विस्मयमाप। ततः पण्डितश्रेष्ठः श्रीकृष्णो धर्मनिधिं युधिष्ठिरं तथैवाभाषत यथा श्रीविष्णुर्देवराजमिन्द्रं प्रति कथयति।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical posture of learning: even a dharma-centered king like Yudhiṣṭhira responds with humility and wonder to sacred narratives, and true instruction is delivered by the wise (Kṛṣṇa) in a manner befitting the listener—paralleling divine counsel (Viṣṇu to Indra).
After sages’ accounts of Mahādeva’s extraordinary deeds are heard, Yudhiṣṭhira is astonished. Then Kṛṣṇa begins to speak to him, and the narrator frames Kṛṣṇa’s forthcoming counsel by comparing it to Viṣṇu’s authoritative guidance to Indra.