Shloka 7
Taḍāga-Phala and Vṛkṣāropaṇa
Merit of Ponds and Tree-Planting
दिवाकर! तुम दोपहरके समय आधे निमेषके लिये ठहर जाते हो! सूर्य! उसी समय तुम्हें स्थिर पाकर हम अपने बाणोंद्वारा तुम्हारे शरीरका भेदन कर डालेंगे। इस विषयमें मुझे कोई (अन्यथा) विचार नहीं करना है ।।
sūrya uvāca | asaṁśayaṁ māṁ vipraṣe bhetsyase dhanvināṁ vara | apakāriṇaṁ māṁ viddhi bhagavan śaraṇāgatam ||
Surya said: “Without doubt, O Vipraṣe—foremost among archers—you are capable of piercing my body. Yet, O venerable one, though you may regard me as an offender, know me now as one who has come seeking refuge.”
सूर्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when one has the power to punish, dharma is tested by how one treats a supplicant. Surya frames the situation in terms of śaraṇāgati: the ethical claim of refuge can temper retribution and invite mercy or restraint.
Surya addresses an archer called Vipraṣe, acknowledging that the archer truly has the ability to pierce him. Surya then shifts the moral ground by admitting possible fault and explicitly presenting himself as a śaraṇāgata—one who seeks protection—thereby appealing to the listener’s duty toward a suppliant.