Shloka 2
अगस्त्यस्य वित्तयाचनं तथा इल्वलोपभिक्षणनिर्णयः
Agastya’s request for wealth and the decision to seek resources from Ilvala
तत्रैव लोमशं राजा पप्रच्छ वदतां वर: । अगस्त्येनेह वातापि: किमर्थमुपशामित:,वहीं वक्ताओंमें श्रेष्ठ राजा युधिष्ठिरने महर्षि लोमशसे पूछा--“ब्रह्मन्! अगस्त्यजीने यहाँ वातापिको किसलिये नष्ट किया?
tatraiva lomaśaṃ rājā papraccha vadatāṃ varaḥ | agastyeneha vātāpiḥ kimartham upaśāmitaḥ ||
Doon din, si Haring Yudhiṣṭhira—na pinakadakila sa mga nagsasalita—ay nagtanong sa pantas na si Lomaśa: “Kagalang-galang na Brāhmaṇa, sa anong dahilan winasak (pinatahimik) ni Agastya si Vātāpi rito?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharmic inquiry: a righteous king seeks the moral and causal reason behind a sage’s act of subduing a harmful being, emphasizing that even acts of destruction are to be understood in terms of protection, restraint, and ethical purpose.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that Yudhiṣṭhira asks the sage Lomaśa why Agastya destroyed (subdued) Vātāpi, setting up the well-known episode explaining Vātāpi’s menace and Agastya’s response.