Shloka 17
Vṛddha-kanyā-carita and Balarāma’s Kurukṣetra Inquiry (वृद्धकन्या-चरितम् / कुरुक्षेत्रफल-प्रश्नः)
सरस्वत्यै वरं प्रादात् प्रीयमाणो महामुनि: । विश्वेदेवाः सपितरो गन्धर्वाप्सरसां गणा:
sarasvatyai varaṃ prādāt prīyamāṇo mahāmuniḥ | viśvedevāḥ sapitaro gandharvāpsarasāṃ gaṇāḥ ||
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: Sa galak ng kalooban, ipinagkaloob ng dakilang muni ang isang biyaya kay Sarasvatī. Naroon bilang mga saksi at tagapagdiwang ang mga Viśvedevas, ang mga Pitṛ (mga espiritu ng ninuno), at ang mga pangkat ng Gandharva at Apsaras—kaya ang biyayang iyon ay naging isang taimtim na gawang pinagtitibay ng mga diyos, hindi isang pansariling pabor.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
A boon becomes ethically weighty and socially binding when granted in a sacred setting and in the presence of divine and ancestral witnesses; it underscores that grace (vara) is not arbitrary but aligned with cosmic and ritual order.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that a great sage, pleased with Sarasvatī, grants her a boon, while various celestial and ancestral beings—Viśvedevas, Pitṛs, Gandharvas, and Apsarases—are present as an assembled host, emphasizing the solemnity and public sanction of the event.