Shloka 13
Āśramamaṇḍala-darśana and Ṛṣi-samāgama
Observation of the Hermitage Precinct and the Assembly of Sages
आस्तीक बोले--कुरुकुलश्रेष्ठ! राजन्! जिसके यज्ञमें तपस्याकी निधि पुरातन ऋषि महर्षि द्वैपायन व्यास विराजमान हों, उसकी तो दोनों लोकोंमें विजय है ।।
Āstīka uvāca—kurukulaśreṣṭha! rājan! yasya yajñe tapasyā-nidhiḥ purātana ṛṣiḥ maharṣiḥ dvaipāyana-vyāsaḥ virājamānaḥ, tasya tu ubhayalokeṣu jayaḥ. śrutaṃ vicitram ākhyānaṃ tvayā pāṇḍavanandana. sarpāś ca bhasmasānnītā gatāś ca padavīṃ pituḥ.
Wika ni Āstīka: “O pinakamainam sa angkan ng Kuru, O Hari! Ang sinumang sa kanyang yajña ay may sinaunang rishi—si Mahārṣi Dvaipāyana Vyāsa, kayamanan ng tapasya—na nakaluklok sa karangalan, ay nagtatamo ng tagumpay sa dalawang daigdig. O ligaya ng mga Pāṇḍava, narinig mo na ang kababalaghang salaysay na ito: ang mga ahas na iyong kaaway ay naging abo, at nakarating sa kalagayang tinamo ng iyong ama.”
आस्तीक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links righteous ritual authority and spiritual merit to lasting success: when a sacrifice is guided by a supremely austere and authoritative sage like Vyāsa, it is said to yield ‘victory in both worlds’—worldly legitimacy and otherworldly merit—implying that power should be restrained and sanctified by dharma and true spiritual counsel.
Āstīka addresses the Kuru king (contextually Janamejaya) and praises the presence of Vyāsa at the sacrifice. He then summarizes the heard episode: the serpents—treated as enemies in the serpent-sacrifice context—are described as having been burned to ashes and as having reached the same ‘state’ as the king’s father, pointing to the continuing karmic and ancestral frame behind the conflict with the serpents.