Mahabharata — Ashvamedhika Parva, Shloka 1153
Adhyāya 90: Babhruvāhana’s Reception and the Commencement of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Aśvamedha
नहि यज्ञों महानेष सदृशस्तैर्मतो मम । क्योंकि उस समय सेरभर सत्तूमेंसे गिरे हुए कुछ कणोंके प्रभावसे मेरा आधा शरीर सुवर्णमय हो गया था; परंतु यह महान् यज्ञ भी मुझे वैसा न बना सका; अतः मेरे मतमें यह यज्ञ उन सेरभर सत्तूके कणोंके समान भी नहीं है
nahi yajño mahān eṣa sadṛśas tair mato mama |
Wika ng biyenan: “Ang dakilang handog na ito, sa aking paghatol, ay hindi maihahambing sa mga iyon. Sapagkat sa bisa ng ilang butil na nalaglag mula sa isang sukat ng sattu—harinang inihaw na sebada—ang kalahati ng aking katawan ay naging ginto; ngunit kahit ang makapangyarihang handog na ito’y hindi ako nagawang maging gayon. Kaya, sa aking palagay, ang handog na ito’y hindi kapantay kahit ng mumunting butil ng inihaw na harina.”
श्षशुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage asserts that the moral and spiritual worth of an act depends on sincerity and the transformative power of even the smallest, pure offering; grand ritual display without the same inner potency is inferior.
A father-in-law figure evaluates a “great sacrifice” and rejects its superiority, citing a prior incident where a few fallen grains of roasted flour miraculously made half his body golden—an effect the present grand yajña failed to achieve—thereby ranking simple, potent charity/offerings above elaborate rites.