Shloka 19
Adhyaya 70 — The King Confronts the Rakshasa and Restores the Brahmin’s Wife
सन्ति नः प्रमदा भूप ! रूपेणाप्सरसां समाः ।
राक्षस्यस्तासु तिष्ठत्सु मानुषीषु रतिः कथम् ॥
santi naḥ pramadā bhūpa rūpeṇāpsarasāṃ samāḥ | rākṣasyas tāsu tiṣṭhatsu mānuṣīṣu ratiḥ katham ||
「王よ、我らには天女アプサラスに等しい美貌の女たちがいる。そのような羅刹女がいるのに、どうして人間の女に欲望を抱くであろうか。」
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FAQs
The rākṣasa uses plausibility to deny wrongdoing. The ethical point is to scrutinize persuasive speech: dharma is not established by clever argument but by conduct and consequences.
Narrative-ethical material (upākhyāna), not directly tied to sarga/pratisarga/manvantara/vaṃśa.
Apsaras-like beauty stands for refined temptation; the claim ‘no desire for humans’ masks a deeper motive—removing the wife to disable yajña—showing how kāma can be a cover for power-strategy.