Shloka 20

Śiva Grants the Pāśupata Astra (Pāśupata-Śastra Upadeśa) | शिवेन पाशुपतास्त्रदानम्

Devanagari script

क्षत्रं चाग्निसमस्पर्श भारद्वाजेन रक्षितम्‌ | दानवाश्च महावीर्या ये मनुष्यत्वमागता:

Transliteration

kṣatraṃ cāgnisamasparśa bhāradvājena rakṣitam | dānavāś ca mahāvīryā ye manuṣyatvam āgatāḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Und die Macht des Kṣatra—unberührbar wie Feuer—stand unter dem Schutz Bhāradvājas. Und es gab auch mächtige Dānavas, die in den Zustand des Menschseins gelangt waren.“

Word by Word

क्षत्रम्the Kshatriya power/warrior order

चand

अग्नि-सम-स्पर्शम्having touch like fire (fiery to the touch)

भारद्वाजेनby Bharadvaja

रक्षितम्protected/guarded

दानवाःDanavas (demons)

चand

महावीर्याःof great valor

येwho

मनुष्यत्वम्human state/condition of being human

आगताःhaving come/attained

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Bhāradvāja

Kṣatra (royal/warrior power)

Agni (fire, as simile)

Dānavas

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Power (kṣatra) is inherently dangerous—likened to fire—and therefore must be safeguarded and regulated by wisdom and discipline, here represented by the sage Bhāradvāja. The verse also hints that extraordinary forces (Dānavas) can enter human society, implying that ethical vigilance is needed because appearances may conceal formidable natures.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana continues the account by stating that the formidable Kṣatriya potency was protected under Bhāradvāja’s guardianship, and that powerful Dānavas had taken on human status—introducing a background where royal power and non-human lineages intersect within the human world.