Shloka 38
आदि पर्व, अध्याय 67 — गान्धर्वविवाह-समयः
Duḥṣanta–Śakuntalā: Gandharva Marriage and Succession Condition
शुनको नाम राजर्षि: स बभूव नराधिप: । विनाशनस्तु चन्द्रस्य य आख्यातो महासुर:
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
śunako nāma rājarṣiḥ sa babhūva narādhipaḥ |
vināśanas tu candrasya ya ākhyāto mahāsuraḥ ||
毗舍波耶那说道：“名为‘舒那迦’的大王仙（王圣）降生人间，成为一方君主；而那位以‘毁月者’闻名的强大阿修罗，也同样在人世取生（以王者之形）。”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse reinforces a Mahābhārata theme: beings of immense power—whether righteous royal sages or formidable Asuras—enter the human sphere and shape history. Kingship is thus portrayed as morally weighty and cosmically consequential, not merely political.
Vaiśampāyana continues a catalog of identifications linking non-human powers (Asuras) with their human births as kings. Here he states that Śunaka appears as a human ruler, and mentions a famed Asura called the ‘Destroyer of the Moon’ also taking human birth (the broader passage elaborates many such correspondences).