Shloka 186
Pūjya-namaskārya-prakaraṇa
On Those Worthy of Honor and Salutation
एतामवस्थां सम्प्राप्तो धर्मज्ञ: सन् पुरंदर । पुरंदर! मैं धर्मज्ञ होकर भी केवल माताके दोषसे इस अवस्थामें आ पहुँचा हूँ। यह मेरा कैसा दुर्भाग्य है?
etām avasthāṁ samprāpto dharmajñaḥ san purandara | purandara! ahaṁ dharmajño 'pi kevala-mātṛ-doṣeṇa asyām avasthāyām āgataḥ | mama idaṁ kīdṛśaṁ durbhāgyam iti ||
Matanga dit : «Ô Purandara (Indra) ! Bien que je connaisse le dharma, je suis tombé dans cet état uniquement à cause de la faute de ma mère. Quelle malchance est donc la mienne !»
मतंग उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between personal dharma-knowledge and inherited or circumstantial suffering: even a dharma-knower may experience hardship attributed to causes beyond his immediate actions, prompting reflection on responsibility, justice, and the limits of merit in worldly outcomes.
Matanga addresses Indra (Purandara), lamenting that despite being dharmajña, he has reached a degraded or painful condition, which he attributes to his mother’s fault, and he questions the nature of his misfortune.