Shloka 40
Atithi-prāpti and the Brāhmaṇa’s Deliberation on Triadic Dharma (अतिथिप्राप्तिः धर्मत्रयविचारश्च)
योडसौ त्वयाभिनिर्दिष्टो ह्धिकारो<र्थचिन्तक: । परिपाल्य: कथं तेन साहंकारेण कर्तृणा
yo 'sau tvayābhinirdiṣṭo 'dhikāro 'rthacintakaḥ | paripālyaḥ kathaṃ tena sāhaṃkāreṇa kartṛṇā ||
Vaiśampāyana berkata: «Wahai Tuhan Yang Mulia, wahai Pitāmaha! Peranan dan kuasa yang telah Engkau tetapkan—yang membawa maslahat—bagaimana dapat dipelihara dengan benar oleh pelaku yang dikuasai ahamkāra, yang mengaku ‘akulah yang berbuat’?»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Rightful duty (adhikāra) is sustained not merely by external assignment but by inner disposition; egoistic doership (ahaṃkāra-kartṛtva) undermines faithful observance of dharma because it replaces service to the prescribed order with self-assertion.
In the Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, the speaker (reported by Vaiśampāyana) raises a doubt: if roles and duties are divinely/authoritatively prescribed for beings, how can a person who acts with ego and the sense of ‘I am the doer’ properly carry out and preserve that prescribed duty?