Shloka 9
Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)
उक्त: क्षणेन चाविष्टस्तेनाधर्मेण भारत । सो5हमीशानमनघममोघं शरणं गत:
uktaḥ kṣaṇena cāviṣṭas tenādharmeṇa bhārata | so 'ham īśānam anagham amoghaṃ śaraṇaṃ gataḥ ||
വൈശമ്പായനൻ പറഞ്ഞു— ഹേ ഭാരതാ! അത് ഉച്ചരിക്കപ്പെട്ട ഉടനെ തന്നെ ആ അധർമ്മപ്രേരണ എന്നെ ക്ഷണത്തിൽ പിടികൂടി. അതുകൊണ്ട് ഞാൻ മലിനതയറ്റ, അമോഘനായ ഈശ്വരന്റെ ശരണം പ്രാപിച്ചു.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a momentary surge of adharma can overtake a person; the ethical response is to recognize it quickly and take refuge in the stainless, unfailing Lord—turning the mind back toward dharma and protection from moral downfall.
The speaker reports that immediately after certain words were spoken, he was suddenly overwhelmed by an unrighteous impulse; in response, he turns to the Lord (Īśāna) as his reliable refuge, emphasizing divine shelter as a corrective to moral disturbance.