Shloka 7
Adhyaya 72 — The Reconciliation Rite, Sarasvati Sacrifice, and the Birth of Uttama Manu (Auttama Manvantara Prelude)
राजोवाच आनीताऽपि हि सा विप्र ! प्रतिकूला सदैव मे ।
दुःखाय न सुखायालं तस्या मैत्री न वै मयि ।
तथा त्वं कुरु यत्नं मे यथा सा वशगामिनी ॥
rājovāca ānītāpi hi sā vipra! pratikūlā sadaiva me | duḥkhāya na sukhāyālaṃ tasyā maitrī na vai mayi | tathā tvaṃ kuru yatnaṃ me yathā sā vaśagāminī ||
The king said: “Even though she has been brought back, O brāhmaṇa, she is always hostile toward me. She is enough for sorrow, not for happiness; she has no affection for me. Therefore, make such an effort for me that she may become compliant to my will.”
FAQs
The king’s request reveals a tension: seeking harmony is legitimate, but seeking domination (‘vaśa’) risks slipping into adharma. The implied lesson is that dharmic counsel should transform attitudes and restore mutual respect, not merely coerce compliance.
Anucarita: a moral case-study embedded in Manvantara narrative, setting up subsequent instruction or consequence.
Hostility and lack of maitrī can symbolize disharmony between will (rājā/ego-function) and inner virtue (patnī/śīla). The ‘right effort’ is inner rectification so that harmony arises naturally, rather than forced control.