Shloka 3
विन्ध्यवृद्धिनिवारणम् — The Restraint of the Vindhya
Agastya’s Injunction
वसिष्ठस्याश्रमे विप्रा भक्षितास्तैर्दुरात्मभि: । अशीति: शतमष्टौ च नव चान्ये तपस्विन:,उन दुरात्माओंने वसिष्ठके आश्रममें निवास करनेवाले एक सौ अट्ठासी ब्राह्मणों तथा नौ दूसरे तपस्वियोंको अपना आहार बना लिया
Vasiṣṭhasyāśrame viprā bhakṣitās tair durātmabhiḥ | aśītiḥ śatam aṣṭau ca nava cānye tapasvinaḥ ||
Lomāśa said: In the hermitage of Vasiṣṭha, those wicked-souled beings devoured the brāhmaṇas who lived there—one hundred and eighty-eight in number—and also nine other ascetics.
लोगश उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights extreme adharma: violating a sacred hermitage and harming brāhmaṇas and ascetics. It implies that society’s moral order depends on protecting places of tapas and those devoted to learning and restraint.
Lomaśa reports that wicked beings attacked Vasiṣṭha’s hermitage and devoured its resident brāhmaṇas—188 of them—along with nine other ascetics, emphasizing the atrocity committed in a holy place.