Shloka 6
धृतराष्ट्र–दुर्योधन संवादः
Vāraṇāvata-vivāsana-nīti: Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Duryodhana’s Policy Dialogue
ततो जानपदीं नाम देवकन्यां सुरेश्वर: । प्राहिणोत् तपसो विघ्नं कुरु तस्येति कौरव,कौरव! तब देवराजने जानपदी नामकी एक देवकन्याको उनके पास भेजा और यह आदेश दिया कि “तुम शरद्वानकी तपस्यामें विघ्न डालो”
tato jānapadīṃ nāma devakanyāṃ sureśvaraḥ | prāhiṇot tapaso vighnaṃ kuru tasyeti kaurava ||
Then the Lord of the gods dispatched a celestial maiden named Jānapadī, instructing her, “O Kaurava, go and obstruct his austerities.” The episode frames a recurring ethical tension in the Mahābhārata: the power of tapas (austerity) can unsettle even the gods, who may resort to temptation and disruption to protect their own order and authority.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Tapas is portrayed as a potent moral-spiritual force that can challenge established power; the narrative cautions that even divine authorities may act defensively, using temptation or disruption, raising questions about the ethics of ends versus means.
Indra, concerned about the ascetic’s growing power through austerity, sends the celestial maiden Jānapadī with the explicit instruction to create an obstacle to his tapas—an archetypal Mahābhārata motif of testing or derailing ascetic practice.