Shloka 2
Droṇa’s Cakra-Śakaṭa Vyūha and the Protection of Jayadratha (द्रोणकृतः चक्रशकटव्यूहः)
पुण्डरीकसहस्रेण वाजपेयशतैस्तथा । अतिरात्रसहस्रेण चातुर्मास्यैश्व कामत: । अग्निष्टोमैश्व विविधै: सत्रैश्व॒ प्राज्यदक्षिणै:
puṇḍarīka-sahasreṇa vājapeya-śatais tathā | atirātra-sahasreṇa cāturmāsyaiś ca kāmataḥ | agniṣṭomaiś ca vividhaiḥ satraiś ca prājya-dakṣiṇaiḥ ||
Nārada said: “By a thousand Puṇḍarīka sacrifices, by hundreds of Vājapeya rites, by a thousand Atirātra offerings, and by Cāturmāsya ceremonies performed as one wishes; and likewise by many kinds of Agniṣṭoma sacrifices and by sacrificial sessions (satra) rich in priestly gifts—(one may accumulate immense ritual merit).”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes the immense scale of ritual merit obtainable through major Vedic sacrifices and generous dakṣiṇā, setting a benchmark for religious ‘achievement’ that later ethical or spiritual points in the passage can be compared against.
Nārada is speaking and enumerating celebrated Vedic rites—Puṇḍarīka, Vājapeya, Atirātra, Cāturmāsya, Agniṣṭoma, and satras—highlighting their quantity and richness in gifts, as part of a larger discourse on merit and religious acts.