Shloka 18
मद्वाक्यान्मुज्च मे भार्या कस्मात् तां हृतवानसि । लोकपालो<सि लोकानां न लोकस्य विलोपक:
madvākyān muñca me bhāryāṃ kasmāt tāṃ hṛtavān asi | lokapālo 'si lokānāṃ na lokasya vilopakaḥ | muñca bhāryām utathyasya kasmāt tvaṃ hṛtavān asi ||
Arjuna dijo: «A mi palabra, suelta a mi esposa. ¿Por qué te la has llevado? Has sido designado lokapāla, guardián de los mundos, no destructor del orden del mundo. Devuelve a la esposa de Utathya: ¿por qué la has raptado?» En esta súplica, el hablante encara a Varuṇa invocando el deber ético de un lokapāla: el poder debe proteger el orden social y moral, no violarlo mediante el despojo coercitivo de la legítima esposa de otro.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Authority—especially divine or royal authority—must function as lokapāla (protector) and uphold dharma; taking another’s lawful spouse by force is condemned as a violation of social and moral order.
The speaker confronts Varuṇa for abducting a woman identified as a lawful wife and demands her release, arguing that Varuṇa’s role as a world-guardian obliges him to protect, not violate, the world’s order.