Shloka 20
Adhyaya 16 — The Son’s Counsel on Renunciation and the Anasuya–Mandavya Episode: The Suspension of Sunrise and the Power of Pativrata
या सा वेश्या मया दृष्टा राजमार्गे गृहोषिता । तां मां प्रापय धर्मज्ञे ! सैव मे हृदि वर्तते ॥
yā sā veśyā mayā dṛṣṭā rājamārge gṛhoṣitā / tāṃ māṃ prāpaya dharmajñe ! saiva me hṛdi vartate
“రాజమార్గం పక్కన ఉన్న ఇంటిలో నివసిస్తున్న ఆ వేశ్యను నేను చూశాను— ఓ ధర్మజ్ఞా! నన్ను ఆమె వద్దకు తీసుకెళ్లు; ఆమె ఒక్కతే నా హృదయంలో నివసిస్తోంది.”
{ "primaryRasa": "bibhatsa", "secondaryRasa": "karuna", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }
FAQs
A pointed irony: the husband calls the wife ‘dharmajñā’ while asking her to facilitate adharma, illustrating how desire rationalizes itself by borrowing the language of righteousness.
Ethical instruction via narrative (ākhyāna); it supports dharma discourse rather than cosmological enumeration.
The ‘royal road’ can be read symbolically as the outward, public path of the senses; the heart’s fixation shows how a single vāsanā can dominate consciousness, opposing yogic freedom.