Shloka 32

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

Devanagari script

एवं सहस्नशश्नान्यान्‌ महादेवो वरं ददौ,“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

evaṁ sahasraśaś cānyān mahādevo varaṁ dadau | itthaṁ mahādevena me bahūni sahasrāṇi varāṇi dattāni | pūrvakāle ’nyāvatāreṣu maṇimantha-parvate mayā lakṣa-koṭi-varṣāṇi bhagavataḥ śaṅkarasyārādhanā kṛtā ||

Translation

ด้วยประการฉะนี้ พระมหาเทพได้ประทานพรแก่เรา และยังประทานพรอื่น ๆ อีกนับพันประการเช่นเดียวกัน

Word by Word

एवम्thus, in this manner

सहस्रशःby thousands, in thousands of ways

अन्यान्other (boons)

महादेवःMahadeva (Śiva)

वरम्a boon

ददौgave

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Mahādeva (Śiva)

Bhagavān Śaṅkara

Maṇimantha Parvata

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?

Long, steadfast worship (ārādhanā) and austerity bear fruit over vast spans of time; divine grace is portrayed as responding to sustained devotion, not merely momentary effort.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana reports that Mahādeva (Śiva) granted the speaker thousands of boons, explaining that these rewards arise from the speaker’s immense, long-continued worship of Śaṅkara on Mount Maṇimantha in earlier ages and incarnational periods.