Shloka 356

Indratīrtha–Ādityatīrtha: Balarāma’s Ritual Bathing, Dāna, and Sacred-Historical Recollections

Devanagari script

अनावृष्टिरनुप्राप्ता तदा द्वादशवार्षिकी | “जीविकाकी इच्छासे जब वे हिमालयके वनमें निवास करते थे, उन्हीं दिनों बारह वर्षोतक इस देशमें वर्षा ही नहीं हुई

Transliteration

anāvṛṣṭir anuprāptā tadā dvādaśavārṣikī |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: Damals setzte eine Dürre ein, die zwölf Jahre währte. In den Tagen, da sie im Wald des Himalaya lebten, um ihren Lebensunterhalt zu sichern, fiel in diesem Land zwölf Jahre lang kein Regen. So lange des Wassers beraubt, geriet die Erde in Mangel und Not und mahnte alle: Lebensgrundlage und soziale Ordnung hängen vom Gleichgewicht der Natur ab und vom verantwortlichen Handeln von Herrschern und Gemeinschaften in Zeiten des Unheils.

Word by Word

अनावृष्टिःdrought; absence of rain

अनुप्राप्ताhaving arrived; having come about

तदाthen; at that time

द्वादशtwelve

वार्षिकीannual; lasting a year (here: of years)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how prolonged natural imbalance (drought) threatens livelihood and societal stability, implicitly calling for dharmic leadership and communal responsibility during crises.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator Vaiśampāyana reports that a twelve-year drought occurred at that time, setting the background of severe scarcity.