Shloka 45
Adhyaya 18 — Arjuna Declines the Throne; Garga Directs Him to Dattatreya; The Gods Defeat the Daityas through Dattatreya’s Vision and the Movement of Lakshmi
गर्ग उवाच सानुरागास्ततस्ते तु प्रोक्ताश्चेत्थं परस्परम् ।
तस्य तां योषितं साध्वीं समुत्क्षिप्य स्मरार्दिताः ॥
garga uvāca sānurāgās tatas te tu proktāś cettthaṃ parasparam | tasya tāṃ yoṣitaṃ sādhvīṃ samutkṣipya smarārditāḥ ||
గర్గుడు అన్నాడు—ఇలా వారు పరస్పరం రాగంతో మాట్లాడుకున్నారు; ఆపై కామపీడితులై అతని సతీమణి, పతివ్రతను ఎత్తుకున్నారు।
FAQs
Calling her ‘sādhvī’ underscores the gravity of the act: it is not romance but transgression. Desire (smara) is portrayed as a force that ‘afflicts,’ not ennobles, when divorced from dharma.
Didactic narrative (ākhyāna) reinforcing dharma norms concerning women’s protection and restraint of passions.
‘Smara-ardita’ indicates being wounded by mental imagery. Esoterically, the ‘lifting’ is the attempt of lower impulses to elevate themselves by stealing higher virtue—an impossible inversion.