Shloka 15
रूयुवाच बाधते मैथुन विप्र मम भक्ति च पश्य वै । अधर्म प्राप्स्यसे विप्र यन्मां त्वं नाभिनन्दसि,स्त्री बोली--ब्रह्मन! मुझे मैथुनकी भूख सता रही है। आपके प्रति जो मेरी भक्ति है, इसपर भी तो दृष्टिपात कीजिये। विप्रवर! यदि आप मुझे संतुष्ट नहीं करते हैं तो आपको पाप लगेगा
strī uvāca—bādhate maithunaṁ vipra mama bhaktiṁ ca paśya vai | adharmaṁ prāpsyase vipra yan māṁ tvaṁ nābhinandasi ||
The woman said: “O brahmin, desire for union troubles me; yet look also upon my devotion to you. O best of brahmins, if you do not accept and satisfy me, you will incur sin.”
अष्टावक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a moral tension between kāma (sexual desire) and dharma (righteous conduct). It shows how desire can argue in the language of duty—claiming that refusal is ‘sin’—thereby testing discernment, self-control, and the proper understanding of ethical obligation.
A woman addresses a brahmin and openly declares that sexual desire is tormenting her. She appeals to her ‘devotion’ toward him and attempts to pressure him by asserting that if he does not accept her, he will incur adharma (sin).