Shloka 9
Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)
उक्त: क्षणेन चाविष्टस्तेनाधर्मेण भारत । सो5हमीशानमनघममोघं शरणं गत:
uktaḥ kṣaṇena cāviṣṭas tenādharmeṇa bhārata | so 'ham īśānam anagham amoghaṃ śaraṇaṃ gataḥ ||
Vaishampayana said: “O Bharata, no sooner had this been spoken than I was seized in an instant by that unrighteous impulse. Therefore I sought refuge in the Lord—stainless and unfailing—taking Him as my sure shelter.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a momentary surge of adharma can overtake a person; the ethical response is to recognize it quickly and take refuge in the stainless, unfailing Lord—turning the mind back toward dharma and protection from moral downfall.
The speaker reports that immediately after certain words were spoken, he was suddenly overwhelmed by an unrighteous impulse; in response, he turns to the Lord (Īśāna) as his reliable refuge, emphasizing divine shelter as a corrective to moral disturbance.