Shloka 14
व्यसनं व: समभ्यागात् को<यं विधिविपर्यय: । कस्यापध्यानजं चेदं घिया पश्यामि नैव तत्
vyasanaṃ vaḥ samabhyāgāt ko 'yaṃ vidhiviparyayaḥ | kasyāpadhyānajaṃ cedaṃ dhiyā paśyāmi naiva tat ||
Sinabi ni Vaiśaṃpāyana: “Isang kapahamakan ang dumating sa inyo. Ano itong pagbaligtad ng tadhana? At kung ang pagdurusang ito’y nagmula sa masamang pagbubulay o poot ng sinuman, hindi ko rin matukoy kung kanino iyon—kahit hanapin ko sa aking pag-unawa.”
वैशमग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames suffering as a moral and metaphysical puzzle: calamity appears as a 'reversal of fate' and invites inquiry into whether it stems from human malice (apadhyāna) or inscrutable destiny (vidhi). It highlights the Mahābhārata’s tension between ethical causality and the opacity of providence.
Vaiśaṃpāyana comments on the sudden misfortune that has overtaken the addressed party (contextually, the Pāṇḍavas), expressing astonishment and searching for a discernible cause—whether a person’s ill-will or some inexplicable turn of destiny.