Shloka 9

च्यवन-यज्ञे अश्विनोः सोमग्रहण-विवादः

Cyavana’s Sacrifice and the Aśvins’ Soma Dispute

Devanagari script

इन्द्र उवाच उभावेतौ न सोमार्हौ नासत्याविति मे मति: । भिषजोौ दिवि देवानां कर्मणा तेन नाहत:,इन्द्र बोले--मुने! मेरा यह सिद्धान्त है कि ये दोनों अश्विनीकुमार यज्ञमें सोमपानके अधिकारी नहीं हैं; क्योंकि ये द्युलोकनिवासी देवताओंके वैद्य हैं और उस वैद्यवृत्तिके कारण ही इन्हें यज्ञमें सोमपानका अधिकार नहीं रह गया है

Transliteration

indra uvāca: ubhāv etau na somārhau nāsatyāv iti me matiḥ | bhiṣajau divi devānāṁ karmaṇā tena nāhataḥ ||

Translation

قال إندرا: «بحسب تقديري، فإن هذين الناستْيَين (توأمي الأشفين) لا يستحقّان شرب السُّوما في الذبيحة. فهما طبيبا الآلهة في السماء؛ وبسبب تلك المهنة، فإن أهليتهما لنصيب السُّوما في الطقس—في رأيي—قد انتقصت.»

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'ubhāv etau', 'definition': 'these two (persons)'}, {'term': 'somārhau', 'definition': 'worthy/eligible for Soma (i.e., entitled to Soma-drinking in a yajña)'}, {'term': 'nāsatyau', 'definition': 'the Nāsatyas

• a name of the Aśvin twins'}, {'term': 'me matiḥ', 'definition': 'my opinion

• my settled view'}, {'term': 'bhiṣajau', 'definition': 'the two physicians (dual)

• healers'}, {'term': 'divi', 'definition': 'in heaven

• in the celestial realm'}, {'term': 'devānām', 'definition': 'of the gods'}, {'term': 'karmaṇā', 'definition': 'by (their) action/occupation

• by the work they do'}, {'term': 'tena', 'definition': 'therefore

• by that (reason)'}, {'term': 'nāhataḥ', 'definition': 'not struck down / not removed (i.e., the disqualification is not negated)

• contextually: their ineligibility is not annulled'}]

Speaker

इन्द्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Indra
• Aśvinīkumāras (Nāsatyas)
• Soma
• Devas (gods)
• Heaven (Divi)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a ritual-ethical debate: eligibility for sacred privileges (like Soma-drinking) is argued to depend not only on status but also on one’s occupational role and perceived ritual purity. Indra frames the Aśvins’ medical service as a reason for exclusion, raising questions about how profession and purity norms shape access to religious rites.

What is happening in the narrative?

Indra states his position in a dispute about whether the Aśvin twins may partake of Soma in a sacrifice. He argues they should be barred because they function as the gods’ physicians in heaven, and that role, in his view, disqualifies them from Soma participation.