Shloka 1
Marutta’s Sacrifice: Indra’s Threat, Saṃvarta’s Mantric Restraint, and Divine Reconciliation (अध्याय १०)
ऑपनआक्ाता बछ। अर: दशमो< ध्याय: इन्द्रका गन्धर्वराजको भेजकर मरुत्तको भय दिखाना और संवर्तका मन्त्रबलसे इन्द्रसहित सब देवताओंको बुलाकर मरुत्तका यज्ञ पूर्ण करना इन्द्र वाच एवमेतद् ब्रह्म॒बलं गरीयो न ब्राह्मणात् किंचिदन्यद् गरीय: । आविक्षितस्य तु बल॑ न मृष्ये वज्मस्मै प्रहरिष्यामि घोरम्
śakra uvāca | evam etad brahma-balaṃ garīyo na brāhmaṇāt kiṃcid anyad garīyaḥ | āvikṣitasya tu balaṃ na mṛṣye vajram asmai prahariṣyāmi ghoram |
قال شَكرا (إندرا): «نعم، الأمر كذلك حقًّا: إنّ قوةَ البراهما (brahma-bala) هي الأعظم، ولا شيء أعظم من براهميّ. غير أنّي لا أطيق بأسَ الملك مَرُتّا (Marutta) من سلالة آڤِكشِت (Āvikṣit). سأضربه بصاعقتي الرهيبة، الفَجْرَة (vajra).»
शक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Indra acknowledges a central dharmic hierarchy: brahma-bala (spiritual and mantra power) and the status of the brāhmaṇa are supreme. Yet the verse also exposes how ego and intolerance can drive even a god to contemplate violence against a righteous king, highlighting the ethical tension between recognizing dharma and acting from jealousy or fear.
Indra, speaking as Śakra, concedes that no power surpasses that of sacred knowledge and the brāhmaṇa. Nevertheless, he declares he cannot bear the growing strength and prominence of King Marutta (of the Āvikṣit line) and threatens to strike him with the vajra, setting up a conflict between divine pride and the momentum of a king’s sacrifice.