Shloka 17
Aṣṭāvakra and the Woman: Disclosure, Permission, and Marital Resolution (अनुशासन पर्व, अध्याय २२)
रूयुवाच शिरसा प्रणमे विप्र प्रसादं कर्तुमहसि । भूमौ निपतमानाया: शरणं भव मेडनघ
strī uvāca—śirasā praṇame vipra prasādaṃ kartum arhasi | bhūmau nipatamānāyāḥ śaraṇaṃ bhava me ’nagha ||
স্ত্ৰীয়ে ক’লে— অনঘ, বিপ্ৰশ্ৰেষ্ঠ! মই শিৰ নোৱাই প্ৰণাম কৰিছোঁ; অনুগ্ৰহ কৰা আপোনাৰ উচিত। মই আপোনাৰ সন্মুখত ভূমিত পৰি আছোঁ— মোক শৰণ দিয়ক।
अद्टावक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the dharmic ideal that one who is approached with humility and surrender—especially a brāhmaṇa or moral authority—should respond with compassion and protection, treating a plea for refuge as a serious ethical claim.
A woman, having fallen at the feet of a brāhmaṇa, formally requests mercy and asylum. Her prostration and direct appeal frame the encounter as a test of the listener’s righteousness and duty to protect.