Shloka 23
ययाति–शक्रसंवादः
Speech-Ethics and Forbearance in the Celestial Court
देवयान्या भुजिष्यास्मि वश्या च तव भार्गवी । सा चाहं च त्वया राजन् भजनीये भजस्व माम्,मैं देवयानीकी सेविका हूँ और वह आपके अधीन है; अतः राजन! वह और मैं दोनों ही आपके सेवन करनेयोग्य हैं। अत: मेरा सेवन कीजिये
devayānyā bhujīṣyāsmi vaśyā ca tava bhārgavī | sā cāhaṃ ca tvayā rājan bhajanīye bhajasva mām ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “I am Devayānī’s attendant, and she, O king, is under your authority. Therefore, O ruler, both she and I are fit to be accepted and attended to by you; so accept me.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds how authority and social status are invoked to justify claims over persons. It invites ethical reflection on dharma: whether power (vaśyatā) can legitimately determine who is “to be enjoyed/served,” and how agency and consent are negotiated within hierarchical relationships.
In the Devayānī–Śarmiṣṭhā–Yayāti episode, a woman identifies herself as Devayānī’s attendant and states that Devayānī is under the king’s control; on that basis she urges the king to accept/associate with her (and, by implication, to attend to Devayānī as well). The speech uses the language of service and subordination to press a claim in the unfolding relationship dynamics.