शूलस्थः स तु धर्मात्मा कालेन महता ततः ॥
निराहारो ऽपि विप्रर्षिर् मरणं नाभ्युपागमत् ॥
धारयाम् आस च प्राणान् ऋषींश् च समुपानयत् ॥
शूलाग्रे तप्यमानेन तपस् तेन महात्मना ॥
संतापं परमं जग्मुर् मुनयो ऽथ परंतप ॥
ते रात्रौ शकुना भूत्वा संन्यवर्तन्त सर्वतः ॥
दर्शयन्तो यथाशक्ति तम् अपृच्छन् द्विजोत्तमम् ॥
श्रोतुम् इच्छामहे ब्रह्मन् किं पापं कृतवान् असि ॥
ततः स मुनिशार्दूलस् तान् उवाच तपोधनान् ॥
दोषतः कं गमिष्यामि न हि मे ऽन्यो ऽपराध्यति ॥
śūlasthaḥ sa tu dharmātmā kālena mahatā tataḥ ||
nirāhāro 'pi viprarṣir maraṇaṃ nābhyupāgamat ||
dhārayām āsa ca prāṇān ṛṣīṃś ca samupānayat ||
śūlāgre tapyamānena tapas tena mahātmanā ||
saṃtāpaṃ paramaṃ jagmur munayo 'tha paraṃtapa ||
te rātrau śakunā bhūtvā saṃnyavartanta sarvataḥ ||
darśayanto yathāśakti tam apṛcchan dvijottamam ||
śrotum icchāmahe brahman kiṃ pāpaṃ kṛtavān asi ||
tataḥ sa muniśārdūlas tān uvāca tapodhanān ||
doṣataḥ kaṃ gamiṣyāmi na hi me 'nyo 'parādhyati ||
"But he, the righteous one, impaled on the stake, though without food for a long time, the sage-brahmin did not come to death: he held his life-breaths and summoned the sages to himself. Because of that great soul who performed austerity on the point of the stake, the sages fell into deep sorrow, O scourge of foes. At night, turning themselves into birds, they gathered from every side, and, showing their sympathy as best they could, asked that foremost of the twice-born: 'We wish to hear, O brahmin: what sin have you committed?' Then that tiger among sages said to those ascetics: 'On whom shall I place the blame? For no one else is guilty before me.'"
93d61f05a8d7 · publicado 12 jul 2026, 16:30:26 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
Here a miracle of the power of tapas appears: pierced by the stake, without food, the righteous man does not die, for he has mastery over his life-breaths (prana). It is significant that the yogin holds his prana by force of will -- the scripture shows that for one established in austerity, death itself withdraws until he releases his breath. The brotherhood of the sages is significant too: they gather as birds in the night, grieving for their fellow -- an image of the compassion of the saints, who do not abandon one another in distress. But most significant of all is Mandavya's answer: 'On whom shall I place the blame? No one else is guilty before me.' Here is the summit of righteous consciousness: the saint curses neither the king, nor the executioners, nor the thieves, but perceives that all suffering is rooted in his own past deed. This is the mature understanding of karma -- not to blame the instruments of fate, but to seek the cause within oneself. Thus Mandavya, not yet knowing his own guilt, already accepts it as his own; and this submission before the law raises him above resentment and opens the way to the god Dharma himself.