Shloka 16
Jatāyu’s Resistance, Sītā’s Traces, Kabandha’s Release, and the Path to Sugrīva (Āraṇyaka-parva 263)
दुर्वाया उवाच वरं वरय भद्रं ते यत् ते मनसि वर्तते । मयि प्रीते तु यद् धर्म्य नालभ्यं विद्यते तव,दुर्वासा बोले--राजन! तुम्हारा कल्याण हो। तुम्हारे मनमें जो इच्छा हो, उसके लिये वर माँगो। मेरे प्रसन्न होनेपर जो धर्मानुकूल वस्तु होगी, वह तुम्हारे लिये अलभ्य नहीं रहेगी
durvāsā uvāca: varaṁ varaya bhadraṁ te yat te manasi vartate | mayi prīte tu yad dharmyaṁ nālabhyaṁ vidyate tava ||
Durvāsā said: “Choose a boon—may good befall you—whatever desire is present in your mind. When I am pleased, no righteous (dharma-consistent) thing will remain unattainable for you.”
दुर्वाया उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even extraordinary power (a sage’s boon) is framed by dharma: what is granted should be ethically permissible, implying that desire must be disciplined by righteousness.
Durvāsā, having been pleased, offers a boon and invites the recipient to ask for whatever is in the mind, with the condition that it be dharma-consistent and thus attainable through his favor.