Shloka 26
अथेन्द्रस्य महाघोरं सोडसृजच्छत्रुमेव हि
atha indrasya mahāghoraṃ so 'sṛjac chatrum eva hi | agnāv āhutim ādhāya munir indrasya vai ripum || tasya nāma mada iti | sa mukham prasārya tiṣṭhaty āsīt | tasya adhoṣṭhaḥ pṛthivyāṃ saṃspṛṣṭaḥ, ūrdhvoṣṭha ākāśaṃ spṛśati | tasya mukhe sahasraṃ dantāḥ, te ca śata-śata-yojanocchritāḥ | tasya dāḍhā bhīṣaṇā dve-dve-śata-yojanāyāmāḥ | atha devaḥ sendrāḥ sarve tasya jihvā-mūle samāpatanta, yathā mahāsāgare bahavo matsyāḥ timi-nāmnaḥ mahāmatsyasya mukhe patanti ||
Cyavana said: Then that great sage, having poured oblations into the fire, produced for Indra a most dreadful enemy indeed—named Mada (Intoxication/Pride). It stood there with its mouth gaping: its lower lip pressed against the earth while its upper lip touched the sky. Within its mouth were a thousand teeth, each rising a hundred yojanas high, and its terrifying fangs were two hundred yojanas long. At that moment all the gods, Indra included, were driven into the very root of its tongue—just as, in the ocean, many fish fall into the mouth of the great fish called Timi.
च्यवन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse dramatizes mada—intoxication and pride—as a devouring force that can overwhelm even the gods. Ethical strength requires humility and self-restraint; otherwise power itself becomes the cause of downfall.
Cyavana performs a fire-offering and manifests a terrifying being named Mada as Indra’s enemy. Mada’s colossal mouth and teeth are described, and the gods with Indra are shown as being driven into its tongue-root, like fish swallowed by the great sea-creature Timi.