Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 31
मयैषा तपसा प्राप्ता क्रोशतस्ते जलाधिप । इत्युक्त्वा तामुपादाय स्वमेव भवनं ययौ
mayaiṣā tapasā prāptā krośatas te jalādhipa | ity uktvā tām upādāya svam eva bhavanaṃ yayau ||
‘ಓ ಜಲಾಧಿಪನೇ! ನೀ ಕೂಗಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದರೂ ನಾನು ತಪೋಬಲದಿಂದ ಈ ಪತ್ನಿಯನ್ನು ಪಡೆದಿದ್ದೇನೆ.’ ಎಂದು ಹೇಳಿ, ಅವನು ಭದ್ರೆಯನ್ನು ಜೊತೆದುಕೊಂಡು ತನ್ನದೇ ನಿವಾಸಕ್ಕೆ ಹಿಂತಿರುಗಿದನು.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights tapas (disciplined austerity) as a potent moral-spiritual force that can secure desired ends; it also raises an ethical tension between personal attainment through ascetic power and the objections of a divine guardian (the lord of waters).
Arjuna addresses the lord of the waters, declaring that despite the deity’s cries of protest he has obtained a wife through his tapas; he then takes the woman with him and returns to his own home.