Shloka 98

मातङ्ग–शक्रसंवादः

Mataṅga–Śakra Dialogue on Tapas, Status, and Moral Qualities

Devanagari script

मेरो: समुद्रस्य च सर्वयत्नै: संख्योपलानामुदकस्य वापि | शक्यं वक्तुं नेह गड़ाजलानां गुणाख्यानं परिमातुं तथैव

Transliteration

meroḥ samudrasya ca sarvayatnaiḥ saṅkhyopalānām udakasya vāpi | śakyaṃ vaktuṃ neha gaṅgājalānāṃ guṇākhyānaṃ parimātuṃ tathaiva ||

Translation

悉达者说道：纵使竭尽一切努力，或许还能说出须弥山碎石之数，甚至数清大海水滴之量；然而在此，要叙述并衡量恒河之水的功德，却永远不可能真正做到。

Word by Word

• {'meroḥ (meruḥ)': 'of Mount Meru

• the cosmic mountain', 'samudrasya': 'of the ocean', 'sarvayatnaiḥ': 'with all efforts

• by every possible means', 'saṅkhyā': 'number

• counting', 'upalānām': 'of stones/pebbles', 'udakasya': 'of water', 'vā api': 'or even', 'śakyam': 'possible

• feasible', 'vaktum': 'to say

• to state', 'iha': 'here

• in this matter', 'gaṅgā-jalānām': 'of the waters of the Gaṅgā', 'guṇa-ākhyānam': 'narration/description of qualities (virtues)', 'parimātum': 'to measure

• to quantify', 'tatha eva': 'just so

Speaker

सिद्ध उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Siddha
• Meru
• Samudra (Ocean)
• Gaṅgā

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that certain sacred virtues—here, the purifying and meritorious qualities of the Gaṅgā—are immeasurable and cannot be fully captured by human speech or calculation, encouraging humility and reverence toward dharmic sources of purity.

What is happening in the narrative?

A Siddha is extolling the greatness of the Gaṅgā by using hyperbolic comparison: even seemingly impossible counts (Meru’s stones, the ocean’s drops) could be attempted, but the Gaṅgā’s virtues remain beyond complete description.