Shloka 2
Adhyaya 71 — The King’s Remorse and the Sage’s Counsel on the Necessity of a Wife
अनर्घयोग्यता कष्टं स मामाह महामनाः ।
वैकल्यं विप्रमुद्दिश्य तथाहायं निशाचरः ॥
anarghayogyatā kaṣṭaṃ sa mām āha mahāmanāḥ / vaikalyaṃ vipram uddiśya tathāha ayaṃ niśācaraḥ
“ਇਹੋ ਜਿਹੇ ਯੋਗ੍ਯ ਪੁਰਖ ਲਈ ਇਹ ਦੁਖਦਾਇਕ ਅਯੋਗਤਾ ਹੈ!”—ਇਉਂ ਕਹਿ ਕੇ ਉਸ ਮਹਾਤਮਾ ਨੇ ਬ੍ਰਾਹਮਣ ਦੀ ਘਾਟ ਦਿਖਾ ਕੇ ਮੈਨੂੰ ਆਖਿਆ; ਅਤੇ ਉਸ ਨਿਸ਼ਾਚਰ ਰਾਖਸ਼ਸ ਨੇ ਵੀ ਇਉਂ ਹੀ ਕਿਹਾ।
FAQs
The king internalizes the critique: dharma is not only outward correction but also recognition of one’s lapse and its impact on the vulnerable (here, the brāhmaṇa).
Ethical instruction embedded in manvantara narrative; not a genealogical vaṃśa list but a dharma-illustration within that epochal setting.
‘Deficiency’ (vaikalya) can be read as a symbol of incomplete discernment; the episode pushes the ruler toward wholeness through counsel from a seer.