Shloka 31
मयैषा तपसा प्राप्ता क्रोशतस्ते जलाधिप । इत्युक्त्वा तामुपादाय स्वमेव भवनं ययौ
mayaiṣā tapasā prāptā krośatas te jalādhipa | ity uktvā tām upādāya svam eva bhavanaṃ yayau ||
Arjuna sprach: „O Herr der Wasser, auch wenn du aufschriest—durch die Kraft meiner Askese habe ich diese Gattin erlangt.“ So sprach er, nahm sie mit sich und kehrte in seine eigene Wohnstatt zurück.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights tapas (disciplined austerity) as a potent moral-spiritual force that can secure desired ends; it also raises an ethical tension between personal attainment through ascetic power and the objections of a divine guardian (the lord of waters).
Arjuna addresses the lord of the waters, declaring that despite the deity’s cries of protest he has obtained a wife through his tapas; he then takes the woman with him and returns to his own home.