Shloka 16
हरेः पुत्रविस्तारः तथा ऊषानिरुद्धकथा-प्रारम्भः
Kṛṣṇa’s Progeny and the Beginning of the Uṣā–Aniruddha Episode
ततः प्रबुद्धा पुरुषम् अपश्यन्ती समुत्सुका क्व गतो ऽसीति निर्लज्जा मैत्रेयोक्तवती सखीम्
tataḥ prabuddhā puruṣam apaśyantī samutsukā kva gato 'sīti nirlajjā maitreyoktavatī sakhīm
Then, waking up and not seeing the man, she grew restless; and, unabashed, she said to her companion, “Where has he gone?”
Maitreya (relating the incident within the broader narration to Parāśara)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: After waking from the dream, the princess’ restlessness and candid speech to her friend illustrate the force of newly awakened attachment.
Teaching: Historical
Quality: narrative and emotionally vivid
Concept: Attachment, once awakened, produces agitation when the object is absent; honesty reveals the mind’s state and can be the first step toward right resolution.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: When craving or longing arises, name it plainly, then choose disciplined steps—communication, prayer, and ethical boundaries—rather than impulsive action.
Vishishtadvaita: The tradition acknowledges intense emotion as part of the soul’s lived condition; it is to be refined and directed, not denied, under the governance of dharma and grace.
FAQs
It marks a turning point in a story-episode: the woman awakens, notices the man’s absence, and initiates inquiry—an action that typically propels the next revelation or consequence in the surrounding account.
The Purana often embeds reported speech: Parāśara remains the main narrator, while Maitreya’s words (or a character’s words as cited by Maitreya) appear to preserve the immediacy of the episode within the larger teacher–disciple dialogue.
Even when a verse is purely narrative, the Vishnu Purana frames such episodes within Vishnu’s sovereign order (niyati/dharma): human actions and their outcomes unfold inside the divinely sustained moral and cosmic governance attributed to Vishnu.