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Shloka 36

Rāma–Jāmadagnya-janma-kāraṇa and Kṣatra-kṣaya

Paraśurāma’s origins and the depletion/restoration of kṣatriya lineages

दत्तात्रेयप्रसादेन राजा बाहुसहस्रवान्‌ | चक्रवर्ती महातेजा विप्राणामाश्चमेधिके

dattātreya-prasādena rājā bāhu-sahasravān | cakravartī mahā-tejā viprāṇām aśvamedhike ||

Vāsudeva sprach: „Durch die Gnade Dattātreyas wurde jener König mit tausend Armen begabt. In großem Glanz erstrahlend, war er ein Cakravartin, ein Weltenherrscher; und beim Ritus des Aśvamedha spendete er den Brahmanen Gaben.“

दत्तात्रेय-प्रसादेनby the grace/favor of Dattatreya
दत्तात्रेय-प्रसादेन:
Karana
TypeNoun
Rootदत्तात्रेयप्रसाद
FormMasculine, Instrumental, Singular
राजाthe king
राजा:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootराजन्
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
बाहु-सहस्र-वान्possessing a thousand arms
बाहु-सहस्र-वान्:
Karta
TypeAdjective
Rootबाहुसहस्रवत्
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
चक्रवर्तीuniversal monarch
चक्रवर्ती:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootचक्रवर्तिन्
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
महातेजाःof great splendor
महातेजाः:
Karta
TypeAdjective
Rootमहातेजस्
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
विप्राणाम्of/for the brahmins
विप्राणाम्:
Sampradana
TypeNoun
Rootविप्र
FormMasculine, Genitive, Plural
अश्वमेधिकेin/at the Ashvamedha (rite/sacrifice)
अश्वमेधिके:
Adhikarana
TypeAdjective
Rootअश्वमेधिक
FormMasculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

वासुदेव उवाच

V
Vāsudeva (speaker)
D
Dattātreya
K
King Arjuna (Bāhusahasra/Arjuna Kārtavīrya, implied by epithet bāhusahasravān)
B
Brahmins (viprāḥ)
A
Aśvamedha (horse-sacrifice)

Educational Q&A

The verse links legitimate royal power to divine favor and to dharmic use of that power: sovereignty and extraordinary might are validated when they culminate in yajña and dāna—public, ritualized generosity toward Brahmins—rather than mere conquest for self-interest.

Vāsudeva recounts how a famed king, through Dattātreya’s grace, gained the extraordinary attribute of a thousand arms, became a cakravartin (universal ruler), and then performed the Aśvamedha, distributing gifts to Brahmins as part of the sacrificial rite.