Shloka 6
Maitreya’s Inquiry into Prahlāda: The Logic of Bhakti’s Invincibility
किंनिमित्तम् असौ शस्त्रैर् विक्षतो दितिजैर् मुने किमर्थं चाब्धिसलिले निक्षिप्तो धर्मतत्परः
kiṃnimittam asau śastrair vikṣato ditijair mune kimarthaṃ cābdhisalile nikṣipto dharmatatparaḥ
हे मुने, दितिजैः शस्त्रैः स धर्मतत्परः किमर्थं विक्षतः? किमर्थं चाब्धिसलिले निक्षिप्तः?
Maitreya (questioning Sage Parāśara)
FAQs
It frames a classic Purāṇic problem: why the righteous suffer. The ocean becomes a narrative stage where hidden causes (karma, cosmic timing, and ultimately Vishnu’s governance of order) are about to be revealed.
This verse is Maitreya’s prompt; Parāśara’s ensuing explanation typically resolves the tension through dharma and causality—showing that events unfold within a moral cosmos upheld by the Supreme (Vishnu), even when the surface appears unjust.
Even without Vishnu named in this line, the question presumes a universe where dharma is meaningful and ultimately protected—an outlook grounded in Vishnu as the supreme regulator of cosmic order who brings narrative and moral resolution.