Shloka 131
Nakula’s Declaration and the Uñchavṛtti Brāhmaṇa’s Superior Merit (Āśvamedhika Parva, Adhyāya 92)
तथा हानेकैर्मुनिभिर्महान्त: क्रतव: कृता: । एवंविधे त्वगस्त्यस्य वर्तमाने तथाध्वरे | न ववर्ष सहस्राक्षस्तदा भरतसत्तम
tathā hānaikair munibhir mahāntaḥ kratavaḥ kṛtāḥ | evaṃvidhe tv agastyasya vartamāne tathādhvare | na vavarṣa sahasrākṣas tadā bharatasattama ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “So too, many great sages performed mighty sacrifices. Yet, while Agastya was conducting a sacrifice of this very kind, Indra of the thousand eyes did not send rain at that time, O best of the Bharatas.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when great rites are performed by eminent sages, cosmic support (like rain) is not automatic; the narrative highlights the tension between ritual merit, divine will, and the maintenance of ṛta/dharma, implying that higher purposes and moral-cosmic order govern outcomes beyond mere performance.
The narrator notes that many sages have conducted grand sacrifices, but during Agastya’s ongoing sacrifice of a similar kind, Indra (Sahasrākṣa) did not cause rain to fall—setting up a situation of drought or obstruction connected to the ritual context.