Shloka 47
Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)
तत्रस्थेन स्तुतो देव: प्राह मां वै नरेश्वर । मोक्ष प्राप्स्यसि शूलाच्च जीविष्यसि समार्बुदम्
tatra-sthena stuto devaḥ prāha māṃ vai nareśvara | mokṣaṃ prāpsyasi śūlāc ca jīviṣyasi samārbudam ||
مانڈویہ نے کہا— اے نریشور! وہاں (شُول پر) رہتے ہوئے میں نے دیو کی ستوتی کی۔ تب اس دیوتا نے مجھ سے کہا— “تُو شُول سے نجات پائے گا اور دس کروڑ برس تک زندہ رہے گا۔”
माण्डव्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when worldly justice fails and one suffers undeserved punishment, steadfast devotion and inner integrity can become the ground for divine intervention; the episode also raises ethical questions about the limits and errors of human judgment in administering punishment.
The sage Māṇḍavya, speaking to a king, recounts that while he was impaled on a stake he praised the deity; the god then assured him of release from the stake and an extraordinarily long life (ten crores of years).