Shloka 62
Trita in the Well (Udapāna-kathā) — Balarāma’s Tīrtha Observances
ससर्ज रोषात् सोमाय स चोडुपतिमाविशत् । पृथ्वीनाथ! यह सुनकर भगवान् दक्ष कुपित हो उठे। उन्होंने चन्द्रमाके लिये रोषपूर्वक राजयक्ष्माकी सृष्टि की। वह चन्द्रमाके भीतर प्रविष्ट हो गया ।। ६१ $ ।। स यक्ष्मणाभिभूतात्माक्षीयताहरह: शशी
sasarja roṣāt somāya sa coḍupatim āviśat | pṛthvīnātha! yaḥ śrutvā bhagavān dakṣaḥ kupito 'bhavat | tena candramase roṣapūrvakaṁ rājayakṣmā sṛṣṭaḥ | sa candramasaḥ antar āviśat || 61 || sa yakṣmaṇābhibhūtātmā kṣīyata ahar-ahaḥ śaśī || 62 ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Enraged, Dakṣa brought forth the affliction called Rājayakṣmā for Soma; and that disease entered the lord of the stars, the Moon. Overpowered by that wasting sickness, Śaśī (the Moon) diminished day by day.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Anger and moral transgression can generate far-reaching consequences: even a luminous figure like the Moon is shown as vulnerable to decline when burdened by curse-born retribution. The passage cautions against pride and offense, and highlights the inevitability of karmic/ethical accountability within cosmic order.
Dakṣa, enraged, creates the wasting disease called Rājayakṣmā for Soma (the Moon). The disease enters the Moon, and as a result the Moon is overpowered and diminishes day by day—an etiological explanation for the Moon’s waning.