Shloka 2

Ṛśyaśṛṅga’s Luring, Rainfall at Aṅga, and Reconciliation with Vibhāṇḍaka (ऋश्यशृङ्गोपाख्यानम्)

Devanagari script

सुरूपरूपाणि च तानि तात प्रलोभयन्ते विविधैरुपायै: । सुखाच्च लोकाच्च निपातयन्ति तान्युग्ररूपाणि मुनीन्‌ वनेषु,तात! वे मनोहर रूपधारी राक्षस नाना प्रकारके उपायोंद्वारा मुनिलोगोंको प्रलोभनमें डालते रहते हैं। फिर वे ही भयानक रूप धारण करके वनमें निवास करनेवाले मुनियोंको आनन्दमय लोकोंसे नीचे गिरा देते हैं

Transliteration

surūparūpāṇi ca tāni tāta pralobhayante vividhair upāyaiḥ | sukhāc ca lokāc ca nipātayanti tāny ugrarūpāṇi munīn vaneṣu, tāta ||

Translation

Vibhāṇḍaka disse: “Meu querido filho, esses seres assumem formas belas e sedutoras e, por muitos estratagemas, enredam os ascetas na tentação. Depois, tomando aspectos terríveis, fazem os sábios que vivem nas florestas decair—da felicidade e dos mundos superiores—ao fazê-los escorregar de seus votos e de sua realização espiritual.”

Word by Word

• {'surūpa-rūpāṇi': 'beautiful, attractive forms', 'tāni': 'those (beings)', 'tāta': 'dear son

• a term of affectionate address', 'pralobhayante': 'they entice, seduce, lure', 'vividhaiḥ upāyaiḥ': 'by various means/stratagems', 'sukhāt': 'from happiness, well-being', 'lokāt': 'from the (higher) world(s)

• from a realm of merit', 'nipātayanti': 'they cause to fall down

• they cast down', 'ugra-rūpāṇi': 'terrible, fierce forms', 'munīn': 'sages, ascetics', 'vaneṣu': 'in forests'}

Speaker

विभाण्डक उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vibhāṇḍaka
• muni (forest sages/ascetics)
• rākṣasa (implied by context: shape-shifting beings)
• vana (forest)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

External allure and deceptive appearances can undermine tapas and dharma; vigilance and self-restraint are necessary because temptation can lead to a spiritual ‘fall’—loss of merit, peace, and higher attainments.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vibhāṇḍaka warns his son that dangerous beings in the forest adopt charming forms to entice ascetics, and then, revealing their fierce nature, cause those sages to slip from their vows and thereby lose happiness and the fruits of their spiritual practice.