Shloka 14
व्यसनं व: समभ्यागात् को<यं विधिविपर्यय: । कस्यापध्यानजं चेदं घिया पश्यामि नैव तत्
vyasanaṃ vaḥ samabhyāgāt ko 'yaṃ vidhiviparyayaḥ | kasyāpadhyānajaṃ cedaṃ dhiyā paśyāmi naiva tat ||
Disse Vaiśaṃpāyana: “Uma calamidade abateu-se sobre vós. Que reversão do destino é esta? E, se este sofrimento nasceu do rancor ou da meditação hostil de alguém, não consigo discernir de quem seja — ainda que o procure com o meu entendimento.”
वैशमग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames suffering as a moral and metaphysical puzzle: calamity appears as a 'reversal of fate' and invites inquiry into whether it stems from human malice (apadhyāna) or inscrutable destiny (vidhi). It highlights the Mahābhārata’s tension between ethical causality and the opacity of providence.
Vaiśaṃpāyana comments on the sudden misfortune that has overtaken the addressed party (contextually, the Pāṇḍavas), expressing astonishment and searching for a discernible cause—whether a person’s ill-will or some inexplicable turn of destiny.