Mahabharata — Mausala Parva, Shloka 26

अध्याय १: उत्पात-दर्शनम् तथा वृष्णि-विनाश-श्रवणम्

Omens Observed and the Hearing of the Vṛṣṇi Destruction

Devanagari script

येन वृष्ण्यन्धककुले पुरुषा भस्मसात्‌ कृता: । वृष्ण्यन्धकविनाशाय किंकरप्रतिमं महत्‌

Transliteration

yena vṛṣṇyandhakakule puruṣā bhasmasāt kṛtāḥ | vṛṣṇyandhakavināśāya kiṅkarapratimaṃ mahat |

Translation

Eben jene Keule war es, durch die die Männer des Vṛṣṇi- und Andhaka-Geschlechts zu Asche wurden. Zur Vernichtung der Vṛṣṇis und Andhakas geschaffen, war sie ein mächtiges Ding, gleich einem Diener Yamas selbst.

Word by Word

• येन: by whom/whereby
• येन: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• वृष्णि-अन्धक-कुले: in the Vrishni-Andhaka clan
• वृष्णि-अन्धक-कुले: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुल
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• पुरुषाः: men, warriors
• पुरुषाः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरुष
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• भस्मसात्: to ashes, utterly destroyed
• भस्मसात्: Karma
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: भस्मसात्

• कृताः: were made, were rendered
• कृताः: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Passive (past passive participle), Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• वृष्णि-अन्धक-विनाशाय: for the destruction of the Vrishnis and Andhakas
• वृष्णि-अन्धक-विनाशाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: विनाश
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• किंकर-प्रतिमम्: like a servant/messenger (of Yama)
• किंकर-प्रतिमम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रतिम
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• महत्: great, mighty
• महत्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Vṛṣṇi clan
• Andhaka clan
• mūsala (iron club)
• Yama
• kiṅkara (Yama’s attendant/messenger)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames the clan’s annihilation as more than a brawl: the mūsala functions like Yama’s agent, suggesting that when collective conduct degenerates, destruction can manifest as an impersonal, karmic inevitability rather than a merely personal victory or defeat.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana identifies the mūsala (club) as the instrument that reduced the Vṛṣṇi-Andhaka men to ashes, emphasizing its fearsome, death-dealing role—‘like Yama’s messenger’—in bringing about the collapse of the clan.