Shloka 11
Mahārāja Sagara, Kapila Muni, and the Deliverance of the Sixty Thousand Sons
स्वशरीराग्निना तावन्महेन्द्रहृतचेतस: । महद्व्यतिक्रमहता भस्मसादभवन् क्षणात् ॥ ११ ॥
sva-śarīrāgninā tāvan mahendra-hṛta-cetasaḥ mahad-vyatikrama-hatā bhasmasād abhavan kṣaṇāt
Influenced by Indra, the king of heaven, the sons of Sagara lost their good sense and offended a great personality. Consequently, fire arose from their own bodies, and in a moment they were burned to ashes.
The material body is a combination of earth, water, fire, air and ether. There is already fire within the body, and our practical experience is that the heat of this fire sometimes increases and sometimes decreases. The fire within the bodies of the sons of Sagara Mahārāja became so much hotter that all of them burned to ashes. The fire’s increased heat was due to their misbehavior toward a great personality. Such misbehavior is called mahad-vyatikrama. They were killed by the fire of their own bodies because of insulting a great personality.
FAQs
This verse shows that a grave transgression (mahad-vyatikrama) can bring immediate ruin—here, Sagara’s sons are reduced to ashes in a moment, illustrating swift karmic consequence when one acts wrongly under delusion.
Indra (Mahendra) diverted their minds (hṛta-cetasaḥ) during the Ashvamedha-horse incident, leading them into irreligious action and ultimately to destruction as a result of that offense.
Act carefully when angry or provoked—bewilderment can push one into serious wrongdoing; practicing restraint, seeking truth before blaming others, and avoiding offenses helps prevent sudden, life-altering consequences.