Shloka 24
Dhanañjaya-viraha-śoka and the Resolve to Enter Gandhamādana (धनंजय-विरह-शोकः गन्धमादन-प्रवेश-संकल्पश्च)
कुबेरनलिनीं रम्यां राक्षसैरभिसेविताम् । पद्धिरेव गमिष्यामस्तप्यमाना महत् तप:,गन्धमादन वही है, जहाँ विशाल बदरीका वृक्ष और भगवान् नर-नारायणका आश्रम है; उस उत्तम पर्वतपर सदा यक्षणण निवास करते हैं; हमलोग उसका दर्शन करेंगे। इसके सिवा, राक्षसोंद्वारा सेवित कुबेरकी सुरम्य पुष्करिणी भी है जहाँ हमलोग भारी तपस्या करते हुए पैदल ही चलेंगे
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
kuberanalinīṃ ramyāṃ rākṣasair abhisevitām |
padbhir eva gamiṣyāmas tapyamānā mahad tapaḥ ||
Wika ni Yudhiṣṭhira: “Maglalakad tayo, tanging paa ang sasandalan, at magtitiis ng dakilang pag-aayuno at disiplina, hanggang sa marating ang marikit na lawa ng mga lotus ni Kubera—na dinadalaw at binabantayan ng mga rākṣasa.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights tapas—willingly embracing hardship and restraint for a higher purpose. Yudhiṣṭhira frames the journey as disciplined, on-foot effort, suggesting that sacred goals are approached through humility, endurance, and self-control rather than comfort.
Yudhiṣṭhira declares the group’s intention to proceed on foot to Kubera’s beautiful lotus-pond, a place associated with divine wealth and guarded or frequented by rākṣasas, emphasizing both the sanctity of the destination and the difficulty of reaching it through austerity.