Shloka 2
अगस्त्य-वातापि-उपाख्यानम्
Agastya and Vātāpi: Ilvala’s stratagem; Lopāmudrā’s emergence
परांश्व निर्गुणान् मनन््ये न च धर्मगतानपि । ते च लोमश लोकेऊस्मिन्नृध्यन्ते केन हेतुना,इसके सिवा, दुर्योधनादि शत्रुओंको सात्त्विक गुणोंसे रहित समझता हूँ। साथ ही यह भी जानता हूँ कि वे धर्म-परायण नहीं हैं तो भी वे इस लोकमें उत्तरोत्तर समृद्धिशाली होते जा रहे हैं, इसका क्या कारण है?
parāṁś ca nirguṇān manye na ca dharmagatān api | te ca lomaśa loke 'sminn ṛddhyante kena hetunā ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “I regard those men as devoid of noble qualities, and I know they are not established in dharma. Yet, O Lomaśa, they continue to prosper more and more in this world—what is the reason for this?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a classic dharma-problem: visible worldly success does not always correlate with virtue. It invites reflection on deeper causality—past karma, time, policy, and the delayed fruition of actions—rather than assuming immediate moral accounting.
During the forest exile, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses the sage Lomaśa, expressing distress that his adversaries—whom he deems lacking virtue and dharma—are nonetheless growing in power and prosperity, and he asks for the cause.