Shloka 20
कुमाराभिषेकप्रश्नः — Inquiry into Kumāra (Skanda) Investiture at Sarasvatī
राजन! तदनन्तर वे भूखसे पीड़ित हुए राक्षस उन सभी कृपालु मुनियोंसे बारंबार हाथ जोड़कर कहने लगे--“महात्माओ! हम भूखे हैं। सनातन धर्मसे भ्रष्ट हो गये हैं ।। न च न: कामकारो<यं यद् वयं पापकारिण: । युष्माकं चाप्रसादेन दुष्कृतेन च कर्मणा
naca naḥ kāmakāro 'yaṃ yad vayaṃ pāpakāriṇaḥ | yuṣmākaṃ cāprasādena duṣkṛtena ca karmaṇā ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O King, thereafter those rākṣasas, tormented by hunger, repeatedly bowed with joined palms to all the compassionate sages and said: ‘Great-souled ones, we are hungry. We have fallen away from the eternal dharma. It is not truly by our free choice that we have become doers of sin; rather, through the sages’ displeasure and through our own evil deeds, we have come to this wretched condition.’”
वैशम्पायन उवाच