Shloka 18
Jatāyu’s Resistance, Sītā’s Traces, Kabandha’s Release, and the Path to Sugrīva (Āraṇyaka-parva 263)
प्रागेव मन्त्रितं चासीत् कर्णदुःशासनादिभि: । याचनीयं मुनेस्तुष्टादिति निश्चित्य दुर्मति:
prāgeva mantritaṃ cāsīt karṇa-duḥśāsanādibhiḥ | yācanīyaṃ munes tuṣṭād iti niścitya durmatiḥ ||
কৰ্ণ, দুঃশাসন আদি সকলৰ সৈতে এই বিষয় আগতেই পৰামৰ্শ কৰা হৈছিল। দুৰ্মতি দুৰ্যোধনে স্থিৰ কৰিলে—মুনি সন্তুষ্ট হ’লে তেওঁৰ পৰা বৰ প্ৰাৰ্থনা কৰিব লাগে।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse cautions that when one’s intention is crooked, even contact with holiness becomes instrumentalized: a sage’s satisfaction is treated as leverage for gain. Ethical counsel matters—deliberation among the unrighteous (durmati) tends to convert spiritual merit into opportunistic bargaining, inviting later harm.
The narrator states that a plan had already been discussed with Karṇa, Duḥśāsana, and others. The misguided person then decides that, once a sage is pleased, he should be asked for something—setting up an attempt to obtain a boon or advantage through petitioning the sage.