Shloka 1
अपने-आप बछ। से, सप्तत्रिशर्दाधिकॉत्रेशततमो< ध्याय: 940. 3283 लिये अजका अर्थ अन्न है, बकरा नहीं-- इस जानते हुए भी पक्षपात करनेके कारण राजा उपरिचरके अधः:पतनकी और भगवत्कृपासे उनके पुनरुत्थानकी कथा युधिछ्िर उवाच यदा भागवतोउत्यर्थमासीद् राजा महान् वसु: । किमर्थ स परिभ्रष्टो विवेश विवरं भुवः,युधिष्ठिरने पूछा--पितामह! राजा वसु जब भगवानके अत्यन्त भक्त और महान् पुरुष थे, तब वे स्वर्गसे भ्रष्ट होकर पातालमें कैसे प्रविष्ट हुए?
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | yadā bhāgavato 'tyartham āsīd rājā mahān Vasuḥ | kimarthaṃ sa paribhraṣṭo viveśa vivaraṃ bhuvaḥ ||
Yudhishthira said: “Grandfather, when the great king Vasu was exceedingly devoted to the Lord and renowned as a noble man, for what reason did he fall from heaven and enter the subterranean chasm of the earth?”
युधिछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a moral problem central to dharma: even a highly devoted and virtuous ruler can suffer downfall if he commits a serious lapse—especially one involving partiality or deviation from truth and justice—showing that devotion must be joined with ethical integrity.
Yudhishthira asks Bhishma to explain the paradox of King Uparicara Vasu: despite being an exemplary devotee and great king, he is said to have fallen from heaven and entered a chasm into the earth/netherworld, prompting the forthcoming account of the cause and its resolution.