Shloka 39
Adhyāya 71: Kaca and the Saṃjīvanī-vidyā
Devayānī–Śukra Episode
यमश्न सोमश्न महर्षयश्न साध्या विश्वे वालखिल्याश्षु सर्वे | एते<पि यस्योद्धिजन्ते प्रभावात् तस्मात् कस्मान्मादृशी नोद्विजेत,यमराज, चन्द्रमा, महर्षिगण, साध्यगण, विश्वेदेव और सम्पूर्ण बालखिल्य ऋषि--ये भी जिनके प्रभावसे उद्विग्न रहते हैं, उन विश्वामित्र मुनिसे मेरी-जैसी स्त्री कैसे नहीं डरेगी?
yamaś ca somaś ca maharṣayaś ca sādhya viśve vālakilyāś ca sarve | ete 'pi yasya udvijante prabhāvāt tasmāt kasmān mādṛśī nodvijet ||
Kaṇva said: “Yama and Soma, the great seers, the Sādhyas, the Viśvedevas, and all the Vālakhilya sages—even these are made uneasy by the power of the one in question. Therefore, why should a woman like me not be afraid of him?”
कण्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how extraordinary spiritual power (tapas and prabhāva) can inspire fear even among exalted beings; it frames fear as a natural response to overwhelming potency and warns that such power must be approached with humility and caution.
Kaṇva speaks to justify her apprehension: she says that even divine and sage communities are unsettled by Viśvāmitra’s formidable influence, so it is only reasonable that she, a woman of lesser strength, would be afraid.