Shloka 3
तमहमन्रुवं॑ कार्यचेष्टाकुलत्वान्न वयं वासायनिका ग्रामैकरात्रवासिनो न प्रत्यभिजानीमो<-प्यात्मनो<र्थानामनुष्ठानं न शरीरोपतापेनात्मन: समारभामो3र्थानामनुष्ठानम्,“मैंने उनसे कहा--“हमलोग तीर्थयात्रा आदि भिन्न-भिन्न पुण्य कार्योकी चेष्टाओंमें व्यग्र रहते हैं, अतः किसी एक स्थानपर सदा नहीं रहते। एक गाँवमें केवल एक रात निवास करते हैं। अपने कार्योंका अनुष्ठान भी हमें भूल जाता है। व्रत-उपवास आदिमें लगे रहनेसे अपने शरीरको सदा कष्ट पहुँचानेके कारण आवश्यक कार्योंका आरम्भ भी हमसे नहीं हो पाता है, ऐसी दशामें हम आपको कैसे जान सकते हैं?”
tam aham anruvaṁ kāryaceṣṭākulatvān na vayaṁ vāsāyanikā grāmaikarātravāsino na pratyabhijānīmo ’py ātmano ’rthānām anuṣṭhānaṁ na śarīropatāpenātmanaḥ samārabhāmo ’rthānām anuṣṭhānam
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “Then I replied to him: ‘We are constantly preoccupied with the bustle of undertaking various meritorious duties—pilgrimages and the like—so we do not remain settled in any one place. In each village we stay only for a single night. In such continual movement, even the proper performance of our own obligations slips from our awareness; and because we keep afflicting the body through vows, fasts, and austerities, we often cannot even begin the necessary tasks that ought to be done. In this condition, how could we possibly recognize you?’”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a tension within dharma: intense religious activity (pilgrimage, vows, fasting) can overwhelm one’s capacity to remember and properly execute necessary obligations. Ethical life requires not only zeal for merit but also steadiness, bodily sustainability, and mindful performance of one’s duties.
Vaiśaṃpāyana narrates a reply given to an unnamed person: the speakers explain that they are constantly traveling and staying only one night per village, and that their austerities and continual movement make it difficult to recognize people and even to carry out their own required tasks.