Shloka 2
जानता वै परं धर्म वसिष्ठेन महात्मना । अगम्यागमनं कस्मात् कृतं तेन महर्षिणा,तथा उत्तम धर्मके ज्ञाता महात्मा महर्षि वसिष्ठने यह परस्त्रीगमनका पाप कैसे किया?
jānatā vai paraṃ dharmaṃ vasiṣṭhena mahātmanā | agamyāgamanam kasmāt kṛtaṃ tena maharṣiṇā ||
Arjuna said: “Vasiṣṭha, that great-souled sage, truly knew the highest dharma. Why, then, did that maharṣi commit the act of approaching what should not be approached—an unlawful sexual transgression? How could one who understands the supreme law fall into such a sin?”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse raises a classic dharma-question: even a knower of the highest moral law may appear to commit a grave transgression, prompting inquiry into context, intention, compulsion, and the complexity of ethical judgment in epic narrative.
Arjuna voices astonishment and doubt: since the sage Vasiṣṭha is renowned as a master of dharma, Arjuna asks why he performed an act described as ‘agamya-āgamanam’—approaching what is forbidden—framing the episode as a moral puzzle that demands explanation.