Shloka 1
Vipula’s Yogic Protection of the Guru’s Household (विपुलस्य योगरक्षा / Vipulasya Yogarakṣā)
अपना बछ। है २ >> अष्टबत्रिशो& ध्याय: पञ्चचूड़ा अप्सराका नारदजीसे स्त्रियोंके दोषोंका वर्णन करना युधिछिर उवाच स्त्रीणां स्वभावमिच्छामि श्रोतुं भरतसत्तम । स्त्रियो हि मूलं दोषाणां लघुचित्ता हि ता: स्मृता:
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
strīṇāṁ svabhāvam icchāmi śrotuṁ bharatasattama |
striyo hi mūlaṁ doṣāṇāṁ laghucittā hi tāḥ smṛtāḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O best of the Bharatas, I wish to hear about the nature of women. For women are remembered as the root of faults, and as being of fickle mind.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse introduces a didactic inquiry: Yudhiṣṭhira asks an elder/authority to explain ‘svabhāva’ (disposition) of women, framing it through a traditional, moralizing claim about doṣa (faults) and fickleness. It sets up a discussion on ethics and social conduct as understood in the text’s instructional context.
At the opening of the chapter, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses ‘bharatasattama’ and requests instruction about women’s nature. This question functions as the prompt for the ensuing discourse in the chapter.