Shloka 2
Vasiṣṭhāpavāha: Sarasvatī’s Diversion and Viśvāmitra’s Curse (वसिष्ठापवाहः)
जुहाव धृतराष्ट्रस्य राष्ट्र वैचित्रवीर्यिण: । तपसा घोररूपेण कर्षयन् देहमात्मन:,क्रोधेन महता5<विष्टो धर्मात्मा वै प्रतापवान् | वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--राजन! ब्राह्मणत्वकी प्राप्ति करानेवाले उस तीर्थसे प्रस्थित होकर यदुनन्दन बलरामजी “अवाकीर्ण' तीर्थमें गये, जहाँ आश्रममें रहते हुए महातपस्वी धर्मात्मा एवं प्रतापी दलभपुत्र बकने महान् क्रोधमें भरकर घोर तपस्याद्वारा अपने शरीरको सुखाते हुए विचित्रवीर्यकुमार राजा धृतराष्ट्रके राष्ट्रका होम कर दिया था
Vaiśampāyana uvāca | juhāva dhṛtarāṣṭrasya rāṣṭraṁ vaicittravīryiṇaḥ | tapasā ghorarūpeṇa karṣayan deham ātmanaḥ, krodhena mahatāviṣṭo dharmātmā vai pratāpavān |
Vaiśampāyana said: Overwhelmed by intense wrath, that righteous and mighty ascetic, emaciating his own body through dreadful austerities, performed a sacrificial oblation that consumed the kingdom of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the son of Vicitravīrya. The verse underscores how anger, even when joined to ascetic power, can become a destructive force with far-reaching moral and political consequences.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical danger of krodha (anger): when combined with spiritual power (tapas), it can magnify harm beyond the individual, affecting entire communities and kingdoms. Righteousness (dharmātmatā) without mastery over anger can still lead to destructive outcomes.
Vaiśampāyana describes a powerful ascetic who, seized by great anger, undertakes fierce austerities that waste his body and then performs an oblation/rite whose effect is the destruction (or ‘burning up’) of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s realm—an episode illustrating the potency of ascetic rites and curses in the epic’s world.