Shloka 9
Dhaumya-varaṇa (Appointment of Dhaumya as Purohita) | धौम्यवरणम्
मृतांश्व पुनराहर्तु शक्त: पुत्रान् यमक्षयात् कृतान्तं नातिचक्राम वेलामिव महोदधि:,वे अपने मरे हुए पुत्रोंकी यमलोकसे वापस ला सकते थे; परंतु जैसे महासागर अपने तटका उल्लंघन नहीं करता, उसी प्रकार वे यमराजकी मर्यादाको लाँघनेके लिये उद्यत नहीं हुए
mṛtān śvān punar āhartuṃ śaktaḥ putrān yamakṣayāt | kṛtāntaṃ nāticakrāma velām iva mahodadhiḥ ||
The Gandharva said: 'We were capable of bringing back the dead sons from Yama’s imperishable realm; yet we did not overstep Death’s ordained boundary—just as the great ocean does not transgress its shoreline.'
गन्धर्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when one has the power to alter outcomes (such as restoring the dead), dharma requires restraint: one should not violate the divinely established limits embodied by Yama/Kṛtānta, just as the ocean respects its shore.
A Gandharva explains that they had the ability to retrieve deceased sons from Yama’s realm, but deliberately refrained from crossing the jurisdiction of Death, using the ocean-and-shore boundary as an image for respecting cosmic law.