Shloka 19
Adhyaya 70 — Meditation on Devi
सन्ति नः प्रमदा भूप ! रूपेणाप्सरसां समाः ।
राक्षस्यस्तासु तिष्ठत्सु मानुषीषु रतिः कथम् ॥
santi naḥ pramadā bhūpa rūpeṇāpsarasāṃ samāḥ | rākṣasyas tāsu tiṣṭhatsu mānuṣīṣu ratiḥ katham ||
“We have women, O king, whose beauty equals that of the Apsarases. When such Rākṣasī women are available, how could there be desire for human women?”
{ "primaryRasa": "adbhuta", "secondaryRasa": "shanta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
FAQs
The rākṣasa uses plausibility to deny wrongdoing. The ethical point is to scrutinize persuasive speech: dharma is not established by clever argument but by conduct and consequences.
Narrative-ethical material (upākhyāna), not directly tied to sarga/pratisarga/manvantara/vaṃśa.
Apsaras-like beauty stands for refined temptation; the claim ‘no desire for humans’ masks a deeper motive—removing the wife to disable yajña—showing how kāma can be a cover for power-strategy.