मरीचिमुख्या मुनयो विश्रम्भात्प्रत्यबोधयन् ॥२९॥
tam adharme ká¹›ta-matiá¹
vilokya pitaraá¹ sutÄḥ
marÄ«ci-mukhyÄ munayo
viÅ›rambhÄt pratyabodhayan
tam - unto him; adharme - in the matter of immortality; ká¹›ta-matim - the mind being so given; vilokya - seeing thus; pitaram - unto the father; sutÄḥ - sons; marÄ«ci-mukhyÄḥ - headed by MarÄ«ci; munayaḥ - sages; viÅ›rambhÄt - with due respect; pratyabodhayan - submitted as follows.
Thus, finding their father so deluded in an act of immorality, the sages headed by MarÄ«ci, all sons of BrahmÄ, spoke as follows with great respect.
The sages like MarÄ«ci were not in the wrong in submitting their protests against the acts of their great father. They knew very well that even though their father committed a mistake, there must have been some great purpose behind the show; otherwise such a great personality could not have committed such a mistake. It might be that BrahmÄ wanted to warn his subordinates about human frailties in their dealings with women. This is always very dangerous for persons who are on the path of self-realization. Therefore, great personalities like BrahmÄ, even when in the wrong, should not be neglected, nor could the great sages headed by MarÄ«ci show any disrespect because of his extraordinary behavior.
