Shloka 13

Mahāvasu’s Fall by Speech-Error and Release through Devotion (अज-विवादः वसोः शापः विमोचनं च)

Devanagari script

अन्तरिक्षाच्च कौरव्य दण्ड: कृष्णाजिनं च ह

Transliteration

antarikṣācca kauravya daṇḍaḥ kṛṣṇājinaṃ ca ha

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: „O Kauravya, aus der Luft erschienen ein Stab und ebenso ein schwarzes Antilopenfell.“

Word by Word

• अन्तरिक्षात्: from the sky/atmosphere
• अन्तरिक्षात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्तरिक्ष
• Form: Neuter, Ablative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• कौरव्य: O descendant of Kuru
• Type: Noun
• Root: कौरव्य
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• दण्डः: a staff/rod
• दण्डः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: दण्ड
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• कृष्णाजिनम्: a black antelope-skin
• कृष्णाजिनम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृष्णाजिन
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• ह: indeed/for emphasis
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ह

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Kauravya (Yudhiṣṭhira)
• daṇḍa (ascetic staff)
• kṛṣṇājina (black antelope-skin)
• antarikṣa (mid-air/sky)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights ascetic emblems—daṇḍa and kṛṣṇājina—as outward signs of inner discipline. In the Shānti Parva’s ethical frame, it suggests that true dharma is supported by self-restraint, simplicity, and vowed conduct, which legitimize teaching and leadership.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma narrates a moment where, from the sky, a staff and a black antelope-skin appear. Such a miraculous appearance typically signals divine approval or the formal bestowal of ascetic status, introducing or validating a figure’s tapas and authority in the ongoing discourse on dharma.