Shloka 20
पाण्डोः प्रेतकार्य-सम्पादनम्
Pāṇḍu’s Funeral Rites and Public Mourning
अस्यां मृग्यां च राजेन्द्र हर्षान्मैथुनमाचरम् । पुरुषार्थफलं कर्तु तत् त्वया विफलीकृतम्,राजेन्द्र! मैं बड़े हर्ष और उललासके साथ अपने कामरूपी पुरुषार्थको सफल करनेके लिये इस मृगीके साथ मैथुन कर रहा था; किंतु तुमने उसे निष्फल कर दिया
asyāṁ mṛgyāṁ ca rājendra harṣān maithunam ācaram | puruṣārthaphalaṁ kartuṁ tat tvayā viphālīkṛtam ||
ข้าแต่พระราชา ด้วยความปีติยินดีอย่างยิ่ง ข้ากำลังร่วมสังวาสกับนางกวางนี้เพื่อให้บรรลุผลแห่งปุรุษार्थ—คือกาม—แต่พระองค์กลับทำให้การกระทำนั้นไร้ผลเสียแล้ว
मृग उवाच
Educational Q&A
Power used without restraint—especially when it violates another being’s rightful sphere—creates moral fault and invites consequence. The verse highlights how even a ‘natural’ pursuit like kāma becomes ethically charged when disrupted by violence or arrogance.
A male deer addresses a king, saying that he was joyfully mating with a doe to fulfill the fruit of desire (kāma as a puruṣārtha), but the king’s intervention has thwarted it. The speech functions as a reproach that frames the king’s act as wrongful and consequential.