Shloka 56

Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)

Devanagari script

भविष्यथ विश क्षिप्रं द्रष्टासि पितरं क्षये । माताकी बात सुनकर मैं पिताके दर्शनसे निराश हो गया और मनको संयममें रखकर महादेवजीकी आराधना करके उनका दर्शन किया। उस समय वे मुझसे बोले--“वत्स! तुम्हारे पिता

Transliteration

bhaviṣyatha viśa kṣipraṃ draṣṭāsi pitaraṃ kṣaye |

Translation

伽罗婆说道：“不久，你将在绝望的尽头见到你的父亲。”听了这话，我便抛却了见父无望的沮丧，收摄其心，礼敬大天，直至得其显现。于是主对我说：“孩子，你的父亲、你的母亲以及你——你们三人——都将免于死亡。现在速速入家；在那里你将得见你的父亲。”蒙世尊湿婆允准，我回到家中，举行祭祀，随即看见父亲从祭坛之所走出，手持祭柴（samidhā）、库沙草（kuśa），并携带从树上自落的熟果等诸般供品。

Word by Word

• भविष्यथ: you all will be / will become
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: लृट् (simple future), 2, plural, परस्मैपद

• विश: enter
• Type: Verb
• Root: विश् (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (imperative), 2, singular, परस्मैपद

• क्षिप्रम्: quickly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: क्षिप्र (प्रातिपदिक)

• द्रष्टासि: you will see
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश् (धातु)
• Form: लृट् (periphrastic future), 2, singular, परस्मैपद

• पितरम्: father
• पितरम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, accusative, singular

• क्षये: at the end / in destruction (i.e., at death/end-time)
• क्षये: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, locative, singular

Speaker

गालव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Gālava
• Mahādeva (Śiva)
• father of Gālava
• mother of Gālava
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• home (gṛha)
• yajña (sacrifice)
• yajñaśālā (sacrificial hall)
• samidh (fuel-sticks)
• kuśa grass
• ripe fruits
• havya (oblations)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Steadfast devotion and self-restraint in distress invite divine guidance; despair is to be ended through disciplined mind and dharmic action, after which rightful aims—such as reunion and protection of family—are fulfilled by grace.

What is happening in the narrative?

Gālava, having become despondent about seeing his father, worships Śiva (Mahādeva). Śiva appears, promises freedom from death for Gālava and his parents, and instructs him to return home. Gālava obeys, performs a sacrifice, and then sees his father emerging from the sacrificial hall carrying ritual materials and offerings.