Shloka 303
Adhyāya 283: Varṇa-vṛtti, Nyāya-ārjana, and the Decline-and-Restoration of Dharma (वर्णवृत्तिः न्यायार्जनं च)
देव्या मन्युव्यपोहार्थ हतो दक्षस्य वै क्रतु: । महेश्वरने उस पुरुषको आज्ञा दी--'वीर! तुम दक्षके यज्ञका नाश कर दो।' फिर तो भगवानके मुखसे निकले हुए उस सिंहके समान पराक्रमी एक ही वीरने पार्वतीदेवीके दुःख और क्रोधका निवारण करनेके लिये खेलही खेलमें प्रजापति दक्षके उस यज्ञका विध्वंस कर डाला
devyā manyuvyapohārthaṃ hato dakṣasya vai kratuḥ |
Dharma’s order was overturned when Dakṣa’s sacrificial rite was destroyed, done expressly to remove the Goddess’s grief and anger. At Maheśvara’s command—“Hero, ruin Dakṣa’s sacrifice”—a single lion-like champion, born from the Lord’s very presence, effortlessly laid waste to Prajāpati Dakṣa’s yajña, as if in play, to appease Pārvatī.
दक्ष उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ritual power (yajña/kratu) is not self-justifying: when pride, disrespect, or adharma corrupts a rite, it can be annulled even if outwardly Vedic. The episode also frames righteous restraint as the higher aim—destruction occurs to dispel the Goddess’s grief and wrath and to restore moral balance.
Dakṣa’s sacrifice is being destroyed on Śiva’s order. A single formidable warrior—described as lion-like and issuing from the Lord—devastates the yajña swiftly, ‘as if in play,’ specifically to remove Devī’s sorrow and anger and to punish the offense embodied in Dakṣa’s rite.