Shloka 18
Jatāyu’s Resistance, Sītā’s Traces, Kabandha’s Release, and the Path to Sugrīva (Āraṇyaka-parva 263)
प्रागेव मन्त्रितं चासीत् कर्णदुःशासनादिभि: । याचनीयं मुनेस्तुष्टादिति निश्चित्य दुर्मति:
prāgeva mantritaṃ cāsīt karṇa-duḥśāsanādibhiḥ | yācanīyaṃ munes tuṣṭād iti niścitya durmatiḥ ||
毗舍波耶那说道：早在很久之前，此事便已与迦尔那、杜沙娑那等人商议过。由于其迷妄的判断，他认定：圣仙一旦欢喜满意，便应当向其祈求；于是决意去求取恩赐。此颂揭示：不义之徒的谋议，能将神圣的机缘化作自利的索取，把圣者的欢悦当作手段而非目的。
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse cautions that when one’s intention is crooked, even contact with holiness becomes instrumentalized: a sage’s satisfaction is treated as leverage for gain. Ethical counsel matters—deliberation among the unrighteous (durmati) tends to convert spiritual merit into opportunistic bargaining, inviting later harm.
The narrator states that a plan had already been discussed with Karṇa, Duḥśāsana, and others. The misguided person then decides that, once a sage is pleased, he should be asked for something—setting up an attempt to obtain a boon or advantage through petitioning the sage.