Atithi-satkāra and the Consolation of Wise Counsel (अतिथिसत्कारः प्रज्ञानवचनस्य च पराश्वासनम्)
ततो<5हं खण्डपरशु: स्मृत: परशुखण्डनात् । नरका चलाया हुआ वह परशु सहसा रुद्रके द्वारा खण्डित कर दिया गया। मेरे परशुका खण्डन हो जानेसे मैं 'खण्डपरशु” कहलाया
tato 'haṃ khaṇḍa-paraśuḥ smṛtaḥ paraśu-khaṇḍanāt |
«ومن ثمّ ذُكِرتُ باسم “خَنْدَ-بَرَشُو” (Khaṇḍa-paraśu) أي “صاحب الفأس المكسور”، لأن فَأسي قد تَحَطَّم.» وفي إطار السرد، ينشأ هذا اللقب من خسارةٍ فاصلةٍ وما ترتّب عليها: فهويّةُ المحارب تُوسَم لا بالفتح، بل بانكسار سلاحه—تذكيرٌ أخلاقيّ بأن الكبرياء بالقوة هشّ، وأن الأسماء في المهابهارتا كثيرًا ما تُضمِر تاريخًا من العِبرة.
तामिन्द्र उवाच गच्छ नहुषस्त्वया वाच्योथ<पूर्वेण मामृषियुक्तेन यानेन त्वमधिरूढ
The verse illustrates how a person’s reputation can be shaped by a single consequential event, and it subtly cautions against overreliance on martial power: even a weapon—symbol of strength—can be broken, leaving behind a moralized memory encoded in a name.
The speaker explains the origin of the epithet ‘Khaṇḍa-paraśu’: because his axe was broken, he became known by that descriptive name. The line functions as an etiological note (name-origin) within the broader Shānti Parva discourse.