Shloka 25
Aṣṭāvakra and the Woman: Disclosure, Permission, and Marital Resolution (अनुशासन पर्व, अध्याय २२)
कि त्वस्था: परमं रूपं जीर्णमासीत् कथ॑ं पुनः । कन्यारूपमिहाद्यैवं किमिवात्रोत्तरं भवेत्
kiṁ tv asthāḥ paramaṁ rūpaṁ jīrṇam āsīt kathaṁ punaḥ | kanyārūpam ihādyaivaṁ kim ivātrottaraṁ bhavet ||
Wika ni Aṣṭāvakra: “Ngunit paano nangyari na ang sukdulang kagandahang ito ay dati’y nalanta sa katandaan? At ngayon, dito, paano ito muling nagpakita sa anyo ng isang dalaga? Sa ganitong kalagayan, anong sagot pa ang maibibigay?”
अष्टावक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the limits of ordinary explanation when confronted with extraordinary transformation: external form can change in ways that defy common reasoning, urging humility in judgment and caution against taking appearances as final truth.
Aṣṭāvakra expresses astonishment and presses a pointed question: how a previously aged, decrepit appearance could have existed, and how that same being now appears as a maiden—implying that any straightforward reply seems impossible in the face of such a reversal.