Shloka 19
Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 47 — Janamejaya’s Sarpa-satra: Vow, Preparation, and the Onset of the Serpent Offering
उत्थापयिष्ये यद्येन॑ ध्रुवं कोपं करिष्यति । धर्मलोपो भवेदस्य संध्यातिक्रमणे ध्रुवम्,'यदि इन्हें जगाऊँगी तो निश्चय ही इन्हें मुझपर क्रोध होगा और यदि सोते-सोते संध्योपासनका समय बीत गया तो अवश्य इनके धर्मका लोप हो जायगा, ऐसी दशामें धर्मात्मा पतिका कोप स्वीकार करूँ या उनके धर्मका लोप? इन दोनोंमें धर्मका लोप ही भारी जान पड़ता है।” अतः जिससे उनके धर्मका लोप न हो, वही कार्य करनेका उसने निश्चय किया
utthāpayiṣye yady enaṁ dhruvaṁ kopaṁ kariṣyati | dharmalopo bhaved asya sandhyātikramaṇe dhruvam ||
Takṣaka reflected: “If I wake him, he will surely become angry with me. Yet if the time for his twilight worship passes while he sleeps, his dharma will certainly suffer loss. In such a situation, should I accept the righteous husband’s anger, or allow his dharma to be diminished? Of the two, the loss of dharma seems the graver.” Therefore, she resolved to act in whatever way would prevent his dharma from being impaired.
तक्षक उवाच
Educational Q&A
When faced with competing harms—personal displeasure versus a lapse in religious duty—the verse prioritizes preventing dharma-loss. It frames ethical choice as weighing consequences and choosing the option that best safeguards dharma, even at the cost of enduring anger.
Takṣaka voices an inner deliberation: waking a sleeping righteous man may provoke his anger, but letting him sleep through the sandhyā time would cause a lapse in his prescribed observance. She therefore resolves to act so that his ritual duty is not missed.