Shloka 20
Mātali’s Proposal for Guṇakeśī and Sumukha’s Audience with Indra
मातलिने कहा--देवर्षे! यह जो कौरव्य और आर्यकके आगे कान्तिमान् और दर्शनीय नागकुमार खड़ा है, किसके कुलको आनन्दित करनेवाला है? ।।
Mātaline uvāca—Devarṣe! ya eṣa Kauravya-Āryakayoḥ agre kāntimān darśanīyaś ca nāgakumāraḥ tiṣṭhati, kasya kulam ānandayan? Kaḥ pitā jananī cāsya? katamasya eṣa bhoginaḥ? vaṁśasya kasya eṣa mahān ketubhūta iva sthitaḥ?
Mātali nói: “Bạch devarṣi! Vị Nāga trẻ rạng rỡ, tuấn tú đang đứng trước Kauravya và Āryaka kia—thuộc dòng dõi nào mà làm rạng vui tông tộc ấy? Cha mẹ chàng là ai? Chàng là cháu của vị xà vương nào? Và chàng đứng đó như một lá đại kỳ, làm tăng thêm vinh quang cho dòng họ nào?”
कण्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the dharmic importance of knowing one’s origins and responsibilities: lineage is not mere pride, but a marker of duty, reputation, and the ethical expectations carried by a person who ‘stands like a banner’ for a family.
Mātali, addressing a divine seer, points out a splendid young Nāga standing before Kauravya and Āryaka and asks for his identification—his parents, his grandfather among the serpent-lords, and the lineage whose glory he represents.