Shloka 25
Aṣṭāvakra and the Woman: Disclosure, Permission, and Marital Resolution (अनुशासन पर्व, अध्याय २२)
कि त्वस्था: परमं रूपं जीर्णमासीत् कथ॑ं पुनः । कन्यारूपमिहाद्यैवं किमिवात्रोत्तरं भवेत्
kiṁ tv asthāḥ paramaṁ rūpaṁ jīrṇam āsīt kathaṁ punaḥ | kanyārūpam ihādyaivaṁ kim ivātrottaraṁ bhavet ||
अष्टावक्र उवाच—किं त्वस्या परमं रूपं पूर्वं जीर्णमभूत् कथम्? इदानीं च कथं ह्येषा कन्यारूपेण दृश्यते? एतादृशेऽवस्थाने किमिवात्रोत्तरं भवेत्?
अष्टावक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the limits of ordinary explanation when confronted with extraordinary transformation: external form can change in ways that defy common reasoning, urging humility in judgment and caution against taking appearances as final truth.
Aṣṭāvakra expresses astonishment and presses a pointed question: how a previously aged, decrepit appearance could have existed, and how that same being now appears as a maiden—implying that any straightforward reply seems impossible in the face of such a reversal.