Shloka 42
Adhyaya 1 — Jaimini’s Questions on the Mahabharata and the Origin of the Wise Birds
तत्राप्सरा वपुर्नाम मुनिक्षोभणगर्विता ।
प्रत्युवाचाद्य यास्यामि यत्रासौ संस्थितो मुनिः ॥
tatrāpsarā vapurnāma munikṣobhaṇagarvitā /
pratyuvācādya yāsyāmi yatrāsau saṃsthito muniḥ
Di sana, seorang Apsaras bernama Vapu, yang berbangga dengan kuasanya mengacaukan para resi, menjawab: “Hari ini aku akan pergi ke tempat resi itu tinggal.”
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FAQs
The verse foregrounds garva (pride) as a moral fault: the Apsaras defines herself by her capacity to unsettle tapas (ascetic discipline). In Purāṇic ethics, such pride becomes the seed of downfall, while the sage’s steadiness (if maintained) exemplifies mastery over the senses and the preservation of dharma through self-control.
This verse belongs primarily to Vaṃśānucarita/Carita (narrative episode illustrating conduct and consequences) rather than sarga/pratisarga/manvantara/vaṃśa as a chronological datum. It functions as an exemplary story embedded in the Purāṇic frame, used to teach dharmic restraint and the dangers of hubris.
Esoterically, the Apsaras can be read as the outward form of vāsanā (latent desire) and distraction that confronts the practitioner; her ‘pride in disturbing sages’ symbolizes the egoic impulse that challenges inner stillness. The ‘going to where the muni is situated’ points to the inevitability of temptation arising precisely where spiritual effort (tapas) is concentrated.