Shloka 33

Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)

Devanagari script

मणिमन्थे<थ शैले वै पुरा सम्पूजितो मया । वर्षायुतसहस्राणां सहस्नं शतमेव च,“इस तरह महादेवजीने मुझे और भी सहस्रों वर दिये। पूर्वकालमें अन्य अवतारोंके समय मणिमन्थ पर्वतपर मैंने लाखों-करोड़ों वर्षोतक भगवान्‌ शंकरकी आराधना की थी

Transliteration

maṇimanth(e)tha śaile vai purā sampūjito mayā | varṣāyutasahasrāṇāṃ sahasraṃ śatam eva ca ||

Translation

వైశంపాయనుడు అన్నాడు—పూర్వకాలంలో మణిమంథ అనే పర్వతంపై నేను మహాదేవుని సంపూర్ణ భక్తి-గౌరవాలతో ఆరాధించాను. వేల వేల సంవత్సరాలు, అంతేకాదు లక్ష సంవత్సరాల వరకూ కూడా నేను ఆ ఉపాసనలో స్థిరంగా నిలిచాను.

Word by Word

मणिमन्थेon (the mountain) Maṇimantha

शैलेon the mountain

वैindeed / surely

पुराformerly / in olden times

सम्पूजितःwas duly worshipped / honored

मयाby me

वर्षायुतसहस्राणाम्of thousands of tens-of-thousands of years

सहस्रम्a thousand

शतम्a hundred

एवonly / just / indeed

चand

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Maṇimantha (mountain)

Śaila (mountain)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the ethical-religious ideal that steadfast devotion and sustained worship (bhakti with tapas) over immense time yields spiritual merit and divine favor; perseverance in reverence is presented as a powerful means of attaining boons and sanctity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates a past episode: on the Maṇimantha mountain he performed complete worship for an extraordinarily long span of years, indicating the intensity and duration of his devotion in the account being related.