Shloka 583
Sārasvata–Dadhīca Upākhyāna at Sarasvatī Tīrtha
Balarāma’s Pilgrimage Context
दिशो दश व्याहरतां मोक्ष त्यक्तुं मनो दधे । दसों दिशाओंमें विलाप करते हुए उन प्राणियोंका करुणायुक्त वचन सुनकर देवलने मोक्षधर्म (संन्यास)-को त्याग देनेका विचार किया
diśo daśa vyāharatāṃ mokṣaṃ tyaktuṃ mano dadhe |
Vaiśampāyana said: Hearing the compassionate, lamenting cries that rose from all ten directions, Devala resolved in his mind to abandon the path of mokṣa-dharma—renunciation—moved by the suffering of living beings and the moral pull of responding to their distress.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights an ethical tension: personal pursuit of liberation (mokṣa through saṃnyāsa) may be challenged by compassion and responsibility toward suffering beings. True dharma can require re-evaluating one’s chosen path when confronted with others’ distress.
As cries of lamentation seem to arise from all directions, Devala is emotionally and morally moved. He forms a resolve to give up the renunciant path of mokṣa-dharma, suggesting a turn from withdrawal toward engagement prompted by compassion.