Shloka 176
समन्तपञ्चक-आख्यानम् तथा अक्षौहिणी-प्रमाणनिर्णयः
Samantapañcaka Narrative and the Measure of an Akṣauhiṇī
विजित्य सागर प्राप्तं पितरं लब्धवानृषि: । यवक्रीतस्य चाख्यानं रैभ्यस्य च महात्मन: । गन्धमादनयात्रा च वासो नारायणाश्रमे,इसी पर्वमें अष्टावक्रका चरित्र भी है। जिसमें बन्दीके साथ जनकके यज्ञमें ब्रह्मर्षि अष्टावक्रके शास्त्रार्थका वर्णन है। वह बन्दी वरुणका पुत्र था और नैयायिकोंमें प्रधान था। उसे महात्मा अष्टावक्रने वाद-विवादमें पराजित कर दिया। महर्षि अष्टावक्रने बन्दीको हराकर समुद्रमें डाले हुए अपने पिताको प्राप्त कर लिया। इसके बाद यवक्रीत और महात्मा रैभ्यका उपाख्यान है। तदनन्तर पाण्डवोंकी गन्धमादनयात्रा और नारायणाश्रममें निवासका वर्णन है
rāma uvāca | vijitya sāgara-prāptaṃ pitaraṃ labdhavān ṛṣiḥ | yavakrītasya cākhyānaṃ raibhyasya ca mahātmanaḥ | gandhamādana-yātrā ca vāso nārāyaṇāśrame | asmin parvaṇi aṣṭāvakrasya caritraṃ api asti | yatra bandinā saha janakasya yajñe brahmarṣi-aṣṭāvakrasya śāstrārthasya varṇanaṃ asti | sa bandī varuṇasya putraḥ āsīt, naiyāyikānāṃ ca pradhānaḥ | taṃ mahātmā aṣṭāvakraḥ vāda-vivāde parājitavān | maharṣi-aṣṭāvakraḥ bandinaṃ jitvā samudre nikṣiptaṃ svapitaraṃ prāptavān | tataḥ yavakrīta-raibhya-upākhyānaṃ | tadanantaraṃ pāṇḍavānāṃ gandhamādana-yātrā nārāyaṇāśrame ca nivāsa-varṇanam |
罗摩言：“既克敌胜之，仙人遂得其父；其父先被带至大海。继而叙耶婆迦利多与大德罗伊毗耶之事；再后为赴甘陀摩陀那之行旅，并居那罗延仙庵之记。此段之中亦含阿湿陀伐迦之传：在阇那迦王祭会，彼与班丁——伐楼那之子、诸论理家之魁——作正式论辩而胜之。由是阿湿陀伐迦得以夺回被投海中的父亲。故此文彰显真学之伦理之力：知识非为矜夸，乃为伸张公义、拯救困厄，并以有节之言与正行重建达摩。”
राम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames learning and debate as instruments of dharma: true scholarship is validated by humility, disciplined speech, and its capacity to restore justice—here symbolized by Aṣṭāvakra’s victory leading to the recovery of his father—rather than by mere intellectual dominance.
It summarizes a sequence of episodes: Aṣṭāvakra defeats Bandī at Janaka’s sacrifice and thereby recovers his father who had been cast into the sea; then follow the stories of Yavakrīta and the sage Raibhya; and later the Pāṇḍavas’ journey to Gandhamādana and their stay at Nārāyaṇa’s hermitage.