Shloka 46
धर्मद्वारबहुत्वविमर्शः — Reflection on the Many ‘Doors’ of Dharma (Śānti-parva 342)
अन्न, वेद, जल और अमृतको पृश्रनि कहते हैं। ये सदा मेरे गर्भमें रहते हैं; इसलिये मेरा नाम (पृश्निगर्भ” है ।।
annam, vedaḥ, jalam amṛtaṃ ca pṛśnayaḥ ucyante. te sadā mama garbhe tiṣṭhanti; tasmān mama nāma “pṛśnigarbha” iti. ṛṣayaḥ prāhur evaṃ māṃ tritaṃ kṛpaṇipātitam— “pṛśnigarbha, tritaṃ pāhi; ekata-dvitābhyāṃ nipātitam” iti. yadā tritamuniḥ svabhrātṛbhyāṃ kūpe nipātitaḥ, tadā ṛṣibhir mayi evaṃ prārthitam— “pṛśnigarbha! ekata-dvitābhyāṃ nipātitaṃ tritaṃ nimajjanāt trāyasva.” tadā mama “pṛśnigarbha” nāmnaḥ punar-punaḥ kīrtanena brahmaṇa ādi-putraḥ ṛṣipravaraḥ tritaḥ sa kūpāt bahiḥ samutthitaḥ.
„Speise, Veda, Wasser und amṛta — der Nektar der Unsterblichkeit — werden ‘Pṛśni’ genannt. Sie wohnen stets in meinem Schoß; darum ist mein Name ‘Pṛśnigarbha’ (Er, in dessen Leib die Pṛśni weilen). Einst flehten die Weisen Mich um Trita an, der grausam hinabgestoßen worden war: ‘O Pṛśnigarbha, rette Trita — von Ekata und Dvita in den Brunnen geworfen — vor dem Ertrinken!’ Als der Rishi Trita von seinen eigenen Brüdern in den Brunnen geschleudert wurde, beteten die Seher so. Da stieg, durch das wiederholte Anrufen meines Namens “Pṛśnigarbha”, der erhabene Trita — Brahmās uralter Sohn — aus jenem Brunnen empor.“
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage emphasizes the salvific power of sacred invocation: sincere, repeated calling upon a protective divine epithet (“Pṛśnigarbha”) becomes an instrument of deliverance for one in distress, reinforcing faith in dharmic refuge and compassionate intervention.
Trita, betrayed by his brothers Ekata and Dvita, is thrown into a well. The sages appeal to the being called “Pṛśnigarbha” to save him. Through repeated utterance of that name, Trita is enabled to rise out of the well and escape drowning.