Shloka 3
Mahāvasu’s Fall by Speech-Error and Release through Devotion (अज-विवादः वसोः शापः विमोचनं च)
ऋषिरप्सरसं दृष्टवा सहसा काममोहितः । अभवद् भगवान् व्यासो वने तस्मिन् युधिष्िर
ṛṣir apsarasaṃ dṛṣṭvā sahasā kāmamohitaḥ | abhavad bhagavān vyāso vane tasmin yudhiṣṭhira ||
Bhishma dit : « Ô Yudhishthira, à la vue de cette apsara, le sage Vyasa fut soudainement saisi par le désir. Dans cette forêt même, le vénérable Vyasa fut troublé par la passion. »
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the most revered and disciplined can be suddenly shaken by kāma (desire); therefore dharma requires vigilance, self-awareness, and restraint rather than pride in one’s spiritual status.
Bhishma narrates to Yudhishthira that Vyasa, upon seeing an apsaras in a forest, is suddenly overcome by desire—setting up a moral episode about temptation and the mind’s vulnerability.