Shloka 56
Devaśarmā–Vipula Dialogue on Ahorātra–Ṛtu as Moral Witnesses (अनुशासन पर्व, अध्याय ४३)
स्वयं गच्छन्ति देवत्वं ततो देवानियाद् भयम् । छुरेकी धार
svayaṁ gacchanti devatvaṁ tato devāniyād bhayam | churekī dhāra, viṣa, sarpa aura āga—ye saba vināśake hetu eka ora aura taruṇī striyāṁ eka ora | mahābāho! pūrvaṁ iyaṁ sarvā prajā dhārmikī āsīt—iti śrutaṁ naḥ | tāḥ prajāḥ svayaṁ devatvaṁ prāpnuvanti sma | tasmād devānāṁ mahad bhayam abhavat | gurupatnī samāsīno vipulaḥ sa mahātapāḥ | upāsīnām anindyāṅgīṁ kathābhiḥ samalobhayat ||
毗湿摩说道：“在往昔，人们极其守法行义，竟能自然而然证得神位；此事令诸天大为恐惧。因为年轻女子亦可致祸，其害不下于剃刀之锋、毒药、蛇与烈火。于是，大苦行者毗补罗坐在师母身旁——那肢体无瑕的茹琪——以种种故事与谈话牵引她的心意，欲加诱动。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames ethical vigilance: even a great ascetic can be tested by proximity and persuasive speech, and social boundaries (especially regarding the teacher’s wife) are treated as a serious dharmic line. It also recalls an ideal age when righteousness itself elevated people to divine status, underscoring the power—and the fragility—of dharma.
Bhishma describes an earlier time when people were so virtuous that they attained godhood, which alarmed the gods. He then introduces an episode in which the ascetic Vipula sits near his teacher’s wife Ruci and attempts to win her over through varied conversation—setting up a moral test involving restraint, propriety, and the protection of dharma.