Shloka 3
Mahāvasu’s Fall by Speech-Error and Release through Devotion (अज-विवादः वसोः शापः विमोचनं च)
ऋषिरप्सरसं दृष्टवा सहसा काममोहितः । अभवद् भगवान् व्यासो वने तस्मिन् युधिष्िर
ṛṣir apsarasaṃ dṛṣṭvā sahasā kāmamohitaḥ | abhavad bhagavān vyāso vane tasmin yudhiṣṭhira ||
Bhishma said: “O Yudhishthira, on seeing an apsaras there, the sage Vyasa was suddenly overcome by desire. In that very forest, the revered Vyasa became deluded by passion.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the most revered and disciplined can be suddenly shaken by kāma (desire); therefore dharma requires vigilance, self-awareness, and restraint rather than pride in one’s spiritual status.
Bhishma narrates to Yudhishthira that Vyasa, upon seeing an apsaras in a forest, is suddenly overcome by desire—setting up a moral episode about temptation and the mind’s vulnerability.