Shloka 12
Nāga-āyatana-darśana-pratīkṣā — The Brāhmaṇa’s Request and Waiting on the Gomatī
नवनीतं यथा दध्नो मलयाच्चन्दनं यथा,ब्रह्म! जैसे दहीसे मक्खन, मलयपर्वतसे चन्दन, वेदोंसे आरण्यक और ओषधियोंसे अमृत निकाला गया है, उसी प्रकार आपने यह कथारूपी अमृत निकालकर रखा है
Janamejaya uvāca: navanītaṃ yathā dadhno malayāc candanaṃ yathā, vedebhya āraṇyakaṃ yathauṣadhībhyo 'mṛtaṃ yathā, tathā tvayā brahman kathāmṛtam uddhṛtya nihitaṃ.
नवनीतं यथा दध्नो मलयाच्चन्दनं यथा, वेदेभ्य आरण्यकं यद्वदोषधिभ्योऽमृतं तथा। एवं ब्रह्मन् त्वया सारं कथामृतमिवोद्धृत्य निहितं नः पुरः प्रभो॥
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
True instruction is the distilled essence: as butter, sandalwood, Āraṇyakas, and nectar represent what is most valuable after refinement, so the sage’s narration is praised as the concentrated, life-giving essence of dharma conveyed through story.
Janamejaya addresses a Brahmin sage with reverence, commending him for extracting and presenting the ‘nectar’ of teaching in the form of kathā (sacred narrative), using a chain of familiar metaphors of extraction and refinement.