Shloka 2
Adhyaya 71 — The King’s Remorse and the Sage’s Counsel on the Necessity of a Wife
अनर्घयोग्यता कष्टं स मामाह महामनाः ।
वैकल्यं विप्रमुद्दिश्य तथाहायं निशाचरः ॥
anarghayogyatā kaṣṭaṃ sa mām āha mahāmanāḥ / vaikalyaṃ vipram uddiśya tathāha ayaṃ niśācaraḥ
“A painful unfitness for one so worthy!”—thus that great-minded man spoke to me, pointing out the brāhmaṇa’s deficiency; and so too spoke that night-roamer, the rākṣasa.
FAQs
The king internalizes the critique: dharma is not only outward correction but also recognition of one’s lapse and its impact on the vulnerable (here, the brāhmaṇa).
Ethical instruction embedded in manvantara narrative; not a genealogical vaṃśa list but a dharma-illustration within that epochal setting.
‘Deficiency’ (vaikalya) can be read as a symbol of incomplete discernment; the episode pushes the ruler toward wholeness through counsel from a seer.