Shloka 12
Āraṇyaka-parva Adhyāya 199: Dharmavyādha on Svakarma, Vidhi, and the Limits of Ahiṃsā
“देवर्षिने उत्तर दिया--“वसुमना पहले उतरेंगे” ।। कि कारणमित्यपृच्छदथाचष्ट नारद: । अहं परिभ्रमन् वसुमनसो गृहमुपस्थित: ।। १२ || “तब उन्होंने पूछा--“इसका क्या कारण है?” नारदजी बोले--'एक दिन मैं घूमता- घामता वसुमनाके घरपर जा पहुँचा
kī kāraṇam ity apṛcchad athācaṣṭa nāradaḥ | ahaṃ paribhraman vasumanaso gṛham upasthitaḥ || 12 ||
They then asked, “What is the reason for this?” Nārada replied: “Once, as I was wandering about, I arrived at the house of Vasumanas.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames ethical inquiry: actions and outcomes have discernible causes, and a sage’s narrative is offered to explain the moral logic behind a stated result. It encourages asking for reasons (kāraṇa) and learning dharma through exempla.
After a statement about who will “go down/descend first,” the listeners ask why. Nārada begins his explanation by recounting that, while wandering, he came to the home of Vasumanas—setting up the backstory that will justify the earlier claim.