Shloka 3

Mahāvasu’s Fall by Speech-Error and Release through Devotion (अज-विवादः वसोः शापः विमोचनं च)

Devanagari script

ऋषिरप्सरसं दृष्टवा सहसा काममोहितः । अभवद्‌ भगवान्‌ व्यासो वने तस्मिन्‌ युधिष्िर

Transliteration

ṛṣir apsarasaṃ dṛṣṭvā sahasā kāmamohitaḥ | abhavad bhagavān vyāso vane tasmin yudhiṣṭhira ||

Translation

ఓ యుధిష్ఠిరా! ఆ వనంలో ఆ అప్సరసను చూచిన వెంటనే ఋషి భగవాన్ వ్యాసుడు అకస్మాత్తుగా కామమోహితుడయ్యెను; ఆ క్షణమే అతని చిత్తం కామవశమై భ్రమించెను।

Word by Word

• ऋषिः: the sage
• ऋषिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: ऋषि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अप्सरसम्: the apsaras (celestial nymph)
• अप्सरसम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अप्सरस्
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• दृष्ट्वा: having seen
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश्
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage-neutral for gerund)

• सहसा: suddenly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सहसा

• काममोहितः: deluded/infatuated by desire
• Type: Adjective
• Root: काम-मोहित
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, क्त (past passive participle) from मुह्

• अभवत्: became
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• भगवान्: the venerable one
• Type: Noun
• Root: भगवत्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• व्यासः: Vyasa
• व्यासः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्यास
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• वने: in the forest
• वने: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वन
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• तस्मिन्: in that
• तस्मिन्: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• युधिष्ठिर: O Yudhishthira
• Type: Noun
• Root: युधिष्ठिर
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• Yudhishthira
• Vyasa
• Apsaras
• Forest

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even the most revered and disciplined can be suddenly shaken by kāma (desire); therefore dharma requires vigilance, self-awareness, and restraint rather than pride in one’s spiritual status.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma narrates to Yudhishthira that Vyasa, upon seeing an apsaras in a forest, is suddenly overcome by desire—setting up a moral episode about temptation and the mind’s vulnerability.