वैशंपायन उवाच
ततः प्रहायामरराजजुष्टान् ।
पुण्यांल् लोकान् पतमानं ययातिम् ॥
संप्रेक्ष्य राजर्षिवरो ऽष्टकस् तम् ।
उवाच सद्धर्मविधानगोप्ता ॥
कस् त्वं युवा वासवतुल्यरूपः ।
स्वतेजसा दीप्यमानो यथाग्निः ॥
पतस्य् उदीर्णाम्बुधरान्धकारात् ।
खात् खेचराणां प्रवरो यथार्कः ॥
दृष्ट्वा च त्वां सूर्यपथात् पतन्तं ।
वैश्वानरार्कद्युतिम् अप्रमेयम् ॥
किं नु स्विद् एतत् पततीति सर्वे ।
वितर्कयन्तः परिमोहिताः स्मः ॥
दृष्ट्वा च त्वां विष्ठितं देवमार्गे ।
शक्रार्कविष्णुप्रतिमप्रभावम् ॥
अभ्युद्गतास् त्वां वयम् अद्य सर्वे ।
तत्त्वं पाते तव जिज्ञासमानाः ॥
न चापि त्वां धृष्णुमः प्रष्टुम् अग्रे ।
न च त्वम् अस्मान् पृच्छसि ये वयं स्मः ॥
तत् त्वां पृच्छामः स्पृहणीयरूपं ।
कस्य त्वं वा किंनिमित्तं त्वम् आगाः ॥
भयं तु ते व्येतु विषादमोहौ ।
त्यजाशु देवेन्द्रसमानरूप ॥
त्वां वर्तमानं हि सतां सकाशे ।
नालं प्रसोढुं बलहापि शक्रः ॥
सन्तः प्रतिष्ठा हि सुखच्युतानां ।
सतां सदैवामरराजकल्प ॥
ते संगताः स्थावरजङ्गमेशाः ।
प्रतिष्ठितस् त्वं सदृशेषु सत्सु ॥
प्रभुर् अग्निः प्रतपने भूमिर् आवपने प्रभुः ॥
प्रभुः सूर्यः प्रकाशित्वे सतां चाभ्यागतः प्रभुः ॥
vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca
tataḥ prahāyāmararājajuṣṭān |
puṇyāṃl lokān patamānaṃ yayātim ||
saṃprekṣya rājarṣivaro 'ṣṭakas tam |
uvāca saddharmavidhānagoptā ||
kas tvaṃ yuvā vāsavatulyarūpaḥ |
svatejasā dīpyamāno yathāgniḥ ||
patasy udīrṇāmbudharāndhakārāt |
khāt khecarāṇāṃ pravaro yathārkaḥ ||
dṛṣṭvā ca tvāṃ sūryapathāt patantaṃ |
vaiśvānarārkadyutim aprameyam ||
kiṃ nu svid etat patatīti sarve |
vitarkayantaḥ parimohitāḥ smaḥ ||
dṛṣṭvā ca tvāṃ viṣṭhitaṃ devamārge |
śakrārkaviṣṇupratimaprabhāvam ||
abhyudgatās tvāṃ vayam adya sarve |
tattvaṃ pāte tava jijñāsamānāḥ ||
na cāpi tvāṃ dhṛṣṇumaḥ praṣṭum agre |
na ca tvam asmān pṛcchasi ye vayaṃ smaḥ ||
tat tvāṃ pṛcchāmaḥ spṛhaṇīyarūpaṃ |
kasya tvaṃ vā kiṃnimittaṃ tvam āgāḥ ||
bhayaṃ tu te vyetu viṣādamohau |
tyajāśu devendrasamānarūpa ||
tvāṃ vartamānaṃ hi satāṃ sakāśe |
nālaṃ prasoḍhuṃ balahāpi śakraḥ ||
santaḥ pratiṣṭhā hi sukhacyutānāṃ |
satāṃ sadaivāmararājakalpa ||
te saṃgatāḥ sthāvarajaṅgameśāḥ |
pratiṣṭhitas tvaṃ sadṛśeṣu satsu ||
prabhur agniḥ pratapane bhūmir āvapane prabhuḥ ||
prabhuḥ sūryaḥ prakāśitve satāṃ cābhyāgataḥ prabhuḥ ||
Vaishampayana said: 'Then, seeing Yayati abandoning the blessed worlds where the king of the immortals is honored, and falling, the best of royal sages, Ashtaka, guardian of the ordinance of righteous dharma, addressed him: "Who are you, young one, equal in form to Vasava, blazing with your own splendor like fire, falling from the sky through the darkness of towering clouds, like the sun — foremost of those who course the heavens? Seeing you falling from the path of the sun, immeasurable, shining with the brilliance of fire and sun, we all, wondering 'what is this that falls?', fell into confusion. Seeing you, equal in might to Shakra, the sun, and Vishnu, standing fixed upon the path of the gods, wishing to know the truth of your fall, we have all now hastened to you. We did not dare to question you first, and you do not ask us who we are; so we ask you, whose form is to be desired: whose are you, and for what reason have you come here? O you whose form is like the king of the gods, may your fear depart, and cast off despair and confusion at once; you who abide close to the virtuous — even Shakra, slayer of Bala, is not able to overcome. O you like the king of the immortals, the virtuous are ever the support of those fallen from their happiness; they, the lords of all that is fixed and moving, have gathered here; you are now established among the virtuous, your equals. Fire is master in giving warmth, earth is master in receiving the sown seed, the sun is master in giving light, and one who has come as a guest to the virtuous is master as well."'
5474d8a01b97 · प्रकाशित 12 जुल॰ 2026, 4:06:49 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Here Yayati, having fallen, finds support among the virtuous — and the greatness of holy company (satsanga) shows itself. Telling are Ashtaka's words: 'the virtuous are ever the support of those fallen from their happiness; even Indra cannot overcome one who abides close to the virtuous.' Here is one of the central truths: the company of the saintly (satsanga) is the highest refuge; one who dwells among the righteous is protected even from the wrath of the gods, for the strength of the saintly lies in their righteousness, not in power. Thus Yayati, fallen from heaven, finds himself already safe among the virtuous royal sages: he is 'established among the virtuous, his equals.' Telling, too, is Ashtaka's reverence toward the guest: 'one who has come to the virtuous is master as well' — the guest (atithi) is sacred, and the virtuous honor him as a lord. Here two dharmas are interwoven: satsanga, the saving power of holy company, and atithi-dharma, the honoring of the guest. And, deeper still, an image of providential mercy appears: one fallen through pride is not cast into the abyss but 'halted' among the righteous, so that through their company and merit he may rise again. Thus even the fall of a proud man who, in his last moment, sought the company of the virtuous turns into salvation; satsanga raises up the fallen.