ततः सुन्दोपसुन्दौ तौ भ्रातरौ दृढविक्रमौ ॥
दृष्ट्वा पितामहं देवं तस्थतुः प्राञ्जली तदा ॥
ऊचतुश् च प्रभुं देवं ततस् तौ सहितौ तदा ॥
आवयोस् तपसानेन यदि प्रीतः पितामहः ॥
मायाविदाव् अस्त्रविदौ बलिनौ कामरूपिणौ ॥
उभाव् अप्य् अमरौ स्यावः प्रसन्नो यदि नौ प्रभुः ॥
tataḥ sundopasundau tau bhrātarau dṛḍhavikramau ||
dṛṣṭvā pitāmahaṃ devaṃ tasthatuḥ prāñjalī tadā ||
ūcatuś ca prabhuṃ devaṃ tatas tau sahitau tadā ||
āvayos tapasānena yadi prītaḥ pitāmahaḥ ||
māyāvidāv astravidau balinau kāmarūpiṇau ||
ubhāv apy amarau syāvaḥ prasanno yadi nau prabhuḥ ||
Sunda and Upasunda said: "Then those two brothers of steadfast valor, seeing the god, the Grandsire, rose with palms joined; and together they said to the lord god: 'If the Grandsire is pleased with this austerity of ours, may we be knowers of illusion, knowers of weapons, mighty, able to change form at will, and may we both be immortal, if the lord is gracious to us.'"
e0a4a3c3097a · published Jul 12, 2026, 6:01:16 PM UTC
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Here the asuric claim bares itself -- a thirst for immortality. It is telling that the brothers ask not for liberation but for power and immortality to serve their conquests: their austerity is self-serving, its aim self-aggrandizement. Here the difference of paths opens up: the ascetic of dharma seeks God, the asura seeks invulnerability for his own willfulness. Thus the scripture shows the vanity of their plea; and the wise Grandsire will not grant it in full.