Shloka 4
ययातिदौहित्रपुण्यसमुच्चयः | Yayāti and the Grandsons’ Consolidation of Merit
कि मया मनसा ध्यातमशुभं धर्मदूषणम् | येनाहं चलितः स्थानादिति राजा व्यचिन्तयत्
kiṃ mayā manasā dhyātam aśubhaṃ dharmadūṣaṇam | yenāhaṃ calitaḥ sthānād iti rājā vyacintayat ||
The king reflected: “What inauspicious, dharma-corrupting thought did I entertain in my mind, by which I have been shaken from my station?”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights moral causality at the level of intention: even a mental act—harboring an unethical, dharma-defiling thought—can become the seed of downfall. It urges vigilance over one’s inner life and accountability for one’s own lapse rather than blaming external forces.
Narada reports a moment of the king’s introspection. Having been displaced from his rightful station, the king searches for the inner cause and concludes that some inauspicious, dharma-corrupting contemplation must have led to his fall.