Shloka 38
Adhyaya 18 — Arjuna Declines the Throne; Garga Directs Him to Dattatreya; The Gods Defeat the Daityas through Dattatreya’s Vision and the Movement of Lakshmi
तमेव विविशुर्दैत्याḥ कालयन्तो दिवौकसः ।
ददृशुश्च महात्मानं दत्तात्रेयं महाबलम् ॥
tam eva viviśur daityāḥ kālayanto divaukasaḥ | dadṛśuś ca mahātmānaṃ dattātreyaṃ mahābalam ||
Die Daityas drangen an eben jenen Ort ein, bedrängten die Bewohner des Himmels und erblickten den großgesinnten, mächtigen Dattātreya.
FAQs
Aggression against the righteous (here, the celestials) leads the Daityas into the orbit of a higher spiritual power (Dattātreya). The verse sets up a contrast between brute force and the subtler force of dharma/tejas embodied by a mahātmā.
This passage is primarily Ākhyāna (narrative) supporting dharma-teaching, not a direct sarga/pratisarga/manvantara/vaṃśa/vaṃśānucarita unit, though it can be grouped under vaṃśānucarita-style moralized episodes about notable beings.
Dattātreya functions as the axis of higher consciousness before which lower impulses are exposed. The ‘entering’ of the Daityas symbolizes the intrusion of rajasic/tamasic tendencies into a sattvic field—where they become self-revealing.