Shloka 4

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

Devanagari script

कपिलभश्न ततः प्राह सांख्यर्षिदेवसम्मत: । मया जन्मान्यनेकानि भकक्‍्त्या चाराधितो भव:

Transliteration

Kapilabhaśna tataḥ prāha sāṅkhyarṣidevasammataḥ | mayā janmāny anekāni bhaktyā cārādhito bhavaḥ ||

Translation

అప్పుడు కపిలభశ్నుడు పలికెను—సాంఖ్య ఋషులచే సత్కృతుడై దేవతలలో పూజ్యుడైనవాడు—“అనేక జన్మలుగా భక్తితో నేను నిన్ను ఆరాధించితిని; ఇప్పుడు ప్రసన్నుడై అనుగ్రహించుము.”

Word by Word

कपिलःKapila

भष्मashes

ततःthen/thereupon

प्राहsaid/spoke

सांख्यर्षिदेवसम्मतःapproved by the Sāṅkhya sages and the gods

मयाby me

जन्मानिbirths (lives)

अनेकानिmany

भक्त्याwith devotion

चand

आराधितःworshipped/propitiated

भवःBhava (Śiva)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Kapilabhaśna

Bhava (Śiva)

Sāṅkhya sages (Sāṅkhyarṣis)

Devas (gods)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Steady devotion and sincere worship, sustained even across many lifetimes, is presented as a basis for seeking divine grace; spiritual effort is portrayed as cumulative and ethically meaningful.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana reports that Kapilabhaśna addresses Bhava (Śiva), declaring that he has worshipped him devotedly through many births and now petitions for Śiva’s favor.