Adhyaya 18 — Arjuna Declines the Throne; Garga Directs Him to Dattatreya; The Gods Defeat the Daityas through Dattatreya’s Vision and the Movement of Lakshmi
स्त्रोरत्नमेतत् त्रैलोक्ये सारं नो यदि वै भवेत् ।
कृतकृत्यास्ततः सर्व इति नो भावितं मनः ॥
stroratnam etat trailokye sāraṃ no yadi vai bhavet | kṛtakṛtyās tataḥ sarva iti no bhāvitaṃ manaḥ ||
‘ಮೂರು ಲೋಕಗಳಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಸ್ತ್ರೀಯರಲ್ಲಿ ಇವಳೇ ರತ್ನ; ಇವಳು ನಮ್ಮ ಸ್ವಸ್ವರೂಪ/ಸ್ವಾಧೀನವಾಗಿದರೆ, ನಾವು ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಕೃತಾರ್ಥರಾಗುವೆವು’—ಎಂದು ಅವರ ಮನಸ್ಸುಗಳು ನಿಶ್ಚಯಿಸಿದವು।
Adharma often proceeds by rebranding harm as ‘achievement.’ The Daityas define fulfillment as acquisition, revealing a value-inversion where persons become ‘sāra’ (extractable essence).
Ethical narrative; it supports dharma-śikṣā (instruction) rather than serving as sarga/pratisarga/manvantara/vaṃśa material.
The mind creates a counterfeit ‘end’ (telos) and then sacrifices dharma to it. The phrase ‘bhāvitaṃ manaḥ’ highlights how repeated imagining hardens into conviction.