Shloka 23
त्रिवर्गमूलनिश्चयः — Determining the Roots of Dharma, Artha, and Kāma
Mahābhārata, Śānti-parva 123
अत्र त्वमनुकम्पां वै कर्तुमहसि शंकर । संकरो न भवेदत्र यथा तद् वै विधीयताम्
atra tvam anukampāṁ vai kartum arhasi śaṅkara | saṅkaro na bhaved atra yathā tad vai vidhīyatām ||
Disse Vasuharoma: “Aqui, ó Śaṅkara, deves realmente mostrar compaixão. Ordena as coisas para que, neste mundo, não surja a varṇa-saṅkara—a confusão da ordem social.”
वसुहरोम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames compassion as active responsibility: a divine (or governing) power should intervene to prevent social and moral disorder (saṅkara), thereby protecting dharma and the stability of the world.
Vasuharoma addresses Śaṅkara (Śiva), urging him to take compassionate action and to institute a measure by which disruptive ‘mixing/confusion’—understood in context as varṇa-saṅkara or breakdown of social order—does not spread in the world.