Shloka 60
Adhyaya 69 — The King’s Neglect of His Wife and the Restoration of Dharma
प्रतिकूला हि सा पत्नी तस्य विप्रस्य या हृता ।
तथापि धर्मकामोऽसौ त्वामुद्योतितवान् नृप ॥
pratikūlā hi sā patnī tasya viprasya yā hṛtā | tathāpi dharma-kāmo 'sau tvām udyotitavān nṛpa ||
En vérité, l’épouse de ce brāhmane—celle qui fut emmenée—lui était défavorable. Pourtant, cet homme, désireux de dharma, a fait que ta faute soit « mise en pleine lumière » (rendue manifeste), ô roi.
FAQs
Even when personally wronged, the dharma-minded person upholds principle over resentment. The brāhmaṇa’s orientation to dharma becomes the instrument by which the king’s lapse is exposed and corrected.
Dharma instruction within Manvantara narrative: exemplary conduct (brāhmaṇa’s dharma-kāmatā) is used to regulate royal behavior, a common Purāṇic didactic strategy.
The ‘unfavorable wife’ and her abduction can be read as the disturbance of one’s inner order; the dharma-seeker still chooses illumination (udyota)—clarity and correction—over reactive darkness.