वैशंपायन उवाच
यदर्थं शार्ङ्गकान् अग्निर् न ददाह तथागते ॥
तत् ते सर्वं यथावृत्तं कथयिष्यामि भारत ॥
धर्मज्ञानां मुख्यतमस् तपस्वी संशितव्रतः ॥
आसीन् महर्षिः श्रुतवान् मन्दपाल इति श्रुतः ॥
स मार्गम् आस्थितो राजन्न् ऋषीणाम् ऊर्ध्वरेतसाम् ॥
स्वाध्यायवान् धर्मरतस् तपस्वी विजितेन्द्रियः ॥
स गत्वा तपसः पारं देहम् उत्सृज्य भारत ॥
जगाम पितृलोकाय न लेभे तत्र तत् फलम् ॥
vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca
yadarthaṃ śārṅgakān agnir na dadāha tathāgate ||
tat te sarvaṃ yathāvṛttaṃ kathayiṣyāmi bhārata ||
dharmajñānāṃ mukhyatamas tapasvī saṃśitavrataḥ ||
āsīn maharṣiḥ śrutavān mandapāla iti śrutaḥ ||
sa mārgam āsthito rājann ṛṣīṇām ūrdhvaretasām ||
svādhyāyavān dharmaratas tapasvī vijitendriyaḥ ||
sa gatvā tapasaḥ pāraṃ deham utsṛjya bhārata ||
jagāma pitṛlokāya na lebhe tatra tat phalam ||
Vaishampayana said: "For what reason the fire did not burn the shārṅgakas, all that I will tell you as it happened; there was a great sage, learned, foremost among knowers of dharma, an ascetic of severe vows, known as Mandapala; he, O king, following the path of sages of restrained seed, devoted to the study of the Vedas and to dharma, an ascetic who had conquered his senses; he, having reached the limit of austerity, casting off his body, O Bharata, went to the world of the ancestors, but did not obtain there its due fruit."
cde80fa03897 · published Jul 12, 2026, 6:11:49 PM UTC
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Here it is shown that even great austerity remains incomplete without the debt owed to ancestors. It is telling that Mandapala, perfect in tapas, did not obtain his full reward: austerity alone does not discharge every debt. The path to complete good runs also through fulfilling one's duty to one's line. So the scripture reveals the insufficiency of asceticism alone; and Mandapala will now discover what he lacks.