Shloka 56
Devaśarmā–Vipula Dialogue on Ahorātra–Ṛtu as Moral Witnesses (अनुशासन पर्व, अध्याय ४३)
स्वयं गच्छन्ति देवत्वं ततो देवानियाद् भयम् । छुरेकी धार
svayaṁ gacchanti devatvaṁ tato devāniyād bhayam | churekī dhāra, viṣa, sarpa aura āga—ye saba vināśake hetu eka ora aura taruṇī striyāṁ eka ora | mahābāho! pūrvaṁ iyaṁ sarvā prajā dhārmikī āsīt—iti śrutaṁ naḥ | tāḥ prajāḥ svayaṁ devatvaṁ prāpnuvanti sma | tasmād devānāṁ mahad bhayam abhavat | gurupatnī samāsīno vipulaḥ sa mahātapāḥ | upāsīnām anindyāṅgīṁ kathābhiḥ samalobhayat ||
Bhishma dit : «Dans les temps anciens, les hommes étaient si vertueux qu’ils atteignaient d’eux-mêmes la condition divine ; cela inspira une grande crainte aux dieux. Car une jeune femme peut être aussi funeste que le tranchant d’un rasoir, le poison, le serpent ou le feu. Alors Vipula, le grand ascète, s’assit auprès de l’épouse de son maître, Ruci aux membres irréprochables, et tenta de l’attirer en l’occupant de récits et de conversations de toutes sortes.»
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames ethical vigilance: even a great ascetic can be tested by proximity and persuasive speech, and social boundaries (especially regarding the teacher’s wife) are treated as a serious dharmic line. It also recalls an ideal age when righteousness itself elevated people to divine status, underscoring the power—and the fragility—of dharma.
Bhishma describes an earlier time when people were so virtuous that they attained godhood, which alarmed the gods. He then introduces an episode in which the ascetic Vipula sits near his teacher’s wife Ruci and attempts to win her over through varied conversation—setting up a moral test involving restraint, propriety, and the protection of dharma.