Adhyaya 19 — Kartavirya Arjuna at Dattatreya’s Ashram: Boons, Sovereignty, and Vaishnava Praise
अर्जुन उवाच किं मां मोहयसि देव ! स्वां मायां समुपाश्रितः ।
अनघस्त्वं तथैवेयं देवी सर्वभवारणिः ॥
arjuna uvāca kiṃ māṃ mohayasi deva! svāṃ māyāṃ samupāśritaḥ / anaghas tvaṃ tathaivaiyaṃ devī sarvabhavāraṇiḥ
قال أرجونا: لِمَ تُضلّني، أيها الإلهي، متوسّلًا بماياك الخاصة؟ إنك منزَّه عن العيب—وكذلك هذه (المرأة) هي الديفي، مُهلكةُ كلِّ صيرورةٍ وتكوّن.
Discernment (viveka) is praised: the king refuses to be trapped by appearances and recognizes the divine reality behind the test, affirming that true purity is compatible with divine play (māyā) when rightly understood.
Ākhyāna with theological emphasis: it teaches tattva (principle) about māyā and Devī within a royal narrative; not a sarga/manvantara catalogue passage.
The ‘woman’ as Devī indicates that śakti can appear in alluring forms; the adept must see through surface dualities (pure/impure, sacred/profane) to the underlying divine power—without collapsing into indulgence.