Adhyaya 15 — Karmic Retribution: Rebirths After Naraka and the King’s Compassion in Hell
प्राप्स्यन्त्यर्ता यदि सुखं बहवो दुःखिते मयि ।
किं नु प्राप्तं मया न स्यात् तस्मात् त्वं व्रज माचिरम् ॥
prāpsyanty ārtā yadi sukhaṃ bahavo duḥkhite mayi |
kinnu prāptaṃ mayā na syāt tasmāt tvaṃ vraja mā ciram ||
నేను దుఃఖంలోనే ఉన్నా అనేక బాధిత ప్రాణులు సుఖాన్ని పొందితే, నిజంగా నాకు ఏది అసాధ్యం? కనుక మీరు వెళ్లండి—ఆలస్యం చేయకండి।
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The king treats others’ relief as his own highest attainment, dissolving the usual ‘me-first’ logic of merit. The ethic is ruler-centered dharma: the king’s body and destiny are instruments for the many.
Ethical instruction embedded in narrative (vaṃśānucarita-type exemplum). It supports purāṇic dharma teaching rather than cosmogenesis or manvantara chronology.
‘Remaining in suffering’ can be read as voluntary descent into the world’s pain; the verse encodes the ideal of staying with saṃsāra’s burdens until others are uplifted, indicating spiritual maturity beyond reward-seeking.