Shloka 24
अनादिनिधन ये त्वामनुध्यायन्ति वै नरा: । तांस्त्वं पासीत्ययं वाद: स गतो व्यर्थतां कथम्,'प्रभो! तुम आदि-अन्तसे रहित हो, जो मनुष्य तुम्हारा निरन्तर स्मरण करते हैं, उन्हें तुम अवश्य संकटसे बचाते हो। तुम्हारी यह विरद व्यर्थ कैसे हो रही है?
anādinidhana ye tvām anudhyāyanti vai narāḥ | tāṁs tvaṁ pāsi ity ayaṁ vādaḥ sa gato vyarthatāṁ katham ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “O Lord, you are without beginning or end. Those people who continually meditate upon you are surely protected by you in times of peril. How, then, can this proclaimed vow of yours have come to seem futile?”
वैशमग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical-religious expectation that steadfast contemplation (anudhyāna) of the eternal Lord entails divine protection; it raises a moral challenge when lived experience appears to contradict that promise, inviting reflection on faith, karma, and the timing/means of divine aid.
The speaker frames a pointed question to the addressed Lord: if it is a known principle that devotees who constantly remember you are protected, why does that principle appear to have failed here? The line functions as a lament and a theological inquiry within the unfolding events.