Shloka 23
Aṣṭāvakra and the Woman: Disclosure, Permission, and Marital Resolution (अनुशासन पर्व, अध्याय २२)
स्त्री बोली--विप्रवर! मैं कुमारावस्थासे ही ब्रह्मचारिणी हूँ; अतः कन्या ही हूँ--इसमें संशय नहीं है। अब आप मुझे पत्नी बनाइये। मेरी श्रद्धाका नाश न कीजिये ।। अष्टावक्र उवाच यथा मम तथा तुभ्य॑ यथा तुभ्यं तथा मम । जिज्ञासेयमृषेस्तस्य विघ्न: सत्यं न कि भवेत्,अष्टावक्रने कहा--जैसी मेरी दशा है, वैसी तुम्हारी है और जैसी तुम्हारी दशा है, वैसी मेरी है। यह वास्तवमें वदान्य ऋषिके द्वारा परीक्षा ली जा रही है या सचमुच यह कोई विघ्न तो नहीं है?
strī uvāca—vipravara! ahaṁ kumārāvasthāta eva brahmacāriṇī; ataḥ kanyā eva asmi—atra na saṁśayaḥ. adhunā tvaṁ māṁ patnīṁ kuru. mama śraddhā-nāśaṁ mā kārṣīḥ. aṣṭāvakra uvāca—yathā mama tathā tubhyaṁ, yathā tubhyaṁ tathā mama. jिज्ञासेयam ṛṣes tasya—vighnaḥ satyaṁ nu kiṁ bhavet?
The woman said: “O best of Brahmins, from my maidenhood I have lived as a celibate; therefore I am truly a maiden—there is no doubt in this. Now take me as your wife. Do not destroy my faith.” Aṣṭāvakra replied: “As my condition is, so is yours; and as yours is, so is mine. I wonder whether this is a test devised by that generous sage, or whether it is in truth some obstacle meant to disrupt the right course.”
अष्टावक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights discernment in dharma: even when a proposal appears righteous (marriage requested by a self-declared celibate maiden), one should examine context and intention, guarding faith (śraddhā) while also suspecting possible deception or a deliberate test.
A woman asserts her lifelong celibacy and asks to be accepted as a wife, pleading that her faith not be harmed. Aṣṭāvakra responds cautiously, noting a symmetry in their situations and wondering whether a sage is testing him or whether the event is a genuine impediment meant to obstruct the proper path.