अर्जुन उवाच
राज्ञा कल्माषपादेन गुरौ ब्रह्मविदां वरे ॥
कारणं किं पुरस्कृत्य भार्या वै संनियोजिता ॥
जानता च परं धर्मं लोक्यं तेन महात्मना ॥
अगम्यागमनं कस्माद् वसिष्ठेन महात्मना ॥
कृतं तेन पुरा सर्वं वक्तुम् अर्हसि पृच्छतः ॥
arjuna uvāca
rājñā kalmāṣapādena gurau brahmavidāṃ vare ||
kāraṇaṃ kiṃ puraskṛtya bhāryā vai saṃniyojitā ||
jānatā ca paraṃ dharmaṃ lokyaṃ tena mahātmanā ||
agamyāgamanaṃ kasmād vasiṣṭhena mahātmanā ||
kṛtaṃ tena purā sarvaṃ vaktum arhasi pṛcchataḥ ||
Arjuna said: 'For what reason did King Kalmashapada appoint his wife to the guru, the best of the knowers of Brahman? And how did that magnanimous Vasishtha, who knows the highest worldly dharma, go to a forbidden woman? All that happened before, may you tell me, who ask.'
e43929ba3f83 · published Jul 12, 2026, 5:37:22 PM UTC
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Here the listener does not pass over a moral perplexity. It is telling that Arjuna asks directly about the apparent transgression: how could a saint who knows dharma approach another man's wife? -- a pious mind does not accept a scandal without explanation. Here proper discernment is shown: not everything the great do should be blindly approved, but its dharmic foundation must be sought. Thus scripture reveals that even the deeds of saints are tested against the law; and the answer will disclose that the seeming transgression was the fulfillment of what was unavoidable, ordained by a curse.