Shloka 40
अर्जुनदुःखहेतुप्रश्नः — Inquiry into the cause of Arjuna’s recurring hardship
Book 14, Chapter 89
सर्पि:पड्का हृदा यत्र बभूवुश्चान्नपर्वता: । रसालाकर्दमा नद्यो बभूवुर्भरतर्षभ
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: sarpiḥ-paṅkā hradā yatra babhūvuś cānna-parvatāḥ | rasālā-kardamā nadyo babhūvur bharatarṣabha ||
毗湿摩波耶那说道：“婆罗多族中的雄牛啊，在那场祭祀中，有些池沼其泥乃是酥油（ghee），又有食物之山巍然耸立；诸河流淌着丰厚甘美的精华，清澈无泥。”由此，睿智的法王由提施提罗之仪式臻于圆满，显现出被奉献并分施的富足，既悦诸天，又济来者——这是王者以布施而非囤积来完成职责的象征。
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses hyperbolic imagery of abundance to highlight a king’s dharma: wealth and resources gain ethical meaning when consecrated through yajña and expressed as generous distribution that benefits gods, guests, and society.
Vaiśampāyana describes the splendor of Yudhiṣṭhira’s completed Aśvamedha sacrifice—ponds with ghee-like mire, heaps of food like mountains, and pure, rich-flowing rivers—signaling the rite’s successful culmination and the scale of offerings and hospitality.