Shloka 196
आदि पर्व — खाण्डवदाह प्रसङ्गः: पावकस्य याचनं तथा इन्द्रवर्षनिवारणोपायः
Adi Parva — Khāṇḍava episode: Agni’s request and the means to resist Indra’s rain
अवतीर्णा: सम तं देशं तपोविघ्नचिकीर्षया । वे सूर्यकी भाँति उस सम्पूर्ण प्रदेशको प्रकाशित कर रहे थे। उनकी वैसी तपस्या और वह अद्भुत एवं उत्तम रूप देखकर हम सभी अप्सराएँ उनके तपमें विघ्न डालनेकी इच्छासे उस स्थानमें उतर पड़ीं
avatīrṇāḥ sama taṃ deśaṃ tapovighnacikīrṣayā | te sūryakī bhānti us sampūrṇa pradeśaṃ prakāśita kar rahe the | unakī vaisī tapasya aura vaha adbhuta evaṃ uttama rūpa dekhakara vayaṃ sabhī apsarāeṃ unake tapameṃ vighna ḍālanekī icchāse us sthānameṃ utara paṛīṃ |
Vaiśampāyana said: 'With the intention of obstructing his austerities, they descended together into that region. Like the sun, they seemed to illumine the whole countryside. Seeing such severe penance and his wondrous, excellent form, we—those apsarases—alighted there, desiring to create a disturbance in his tapas.'
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights a recurring Mahābhārata ethic: genuine spiritual discipline (tapas) is tested by allure and distraction. The moral emphasis is on steadiness, self-restraint, and guarding one’s vow against forces—internal or external—that seek to derail dharmic effort.
A group of apsarases descends into the area where an ascetic is performing intense austerities. Radiant like the sun, they arrive specifically intending to disrupt his penance, having been struck by the power of his tapas and the excellence of his appearance.