ईशा वै सर्वलोकस्य वसवस्ते च वै कथम् | मानुषेषूदपद्यन्त तन््ममाचक्ष्व जाहल्नवि,जाह्नवि! वसु तो समस्त लोकोंके अधीश्वर हैं, वे कैसे मनुष्यलोकमें उत्पन्न हुए? यह सब बात मुझे बताओ
Īśā vai sarvalokasya vasavas te ca vai katham | mānuṣeṣūd apadyanta tan mamācakṣva jāhnavī, jāhnavī ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “The Vasus are indeed lords of all the worlds. How, then, did they come to be born among human beings? Tell me this fully, O Jāhnavī—O descendant of Jahnu (Gāṅgā).”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Even exalted beings may enter human birth due to the workings of cosmic law—often through a curse, a vow, or a destined purpose—showing that status does not exempt one from consequence and narrative necessity.
The narrator raises a key question: since the Vasus are world-rulers among the gods, by what cause did they take birth in the human realm? He asks Jāhnavī (Gaṅgā) to explain the circumstances leading to their human incarnation.