Shloka 19
Mahāvasu’s Fall by Speech-Error and Release through Devotion (अज-विवादः वसोः शापः विमोचनं च)
जातमात्र मुने: पुत्र विधिनोपानयत् तदा । तब महातेजस्वी महात्मा भगवान् शंकरने देवी पार्वतीके साथ स्वयं प्रसन्नतापूर्वक पधारकर महर्षि व्यासके उस नवजात पुत्रका विधिपूर्वक उपनयन-संस्कार किया ।।
jātamātraṃ muneḥ putraṃ vidhinopānayat tadā | tataḥ mahātejasvī mahātmā bhagavān śaṅkaraḥ devyā pārvatyā saha svayaṃ prasannatāpūrvakaṃ upetya maharṣeḥ vyāsasya tasya navajātasya putrasya vidhivat upanayana-saṃskāraṃ cakāra | tasya deveśvaraḥ śakro divyam adbhuta-darśanam ...
Bhīṣma said: “When the sage’s son had only just been born, he was duly invested with the sacred thread. Then the supremely radiant, great-souled Lord Śaṅkara himself, accompanied by Goddess Pārvatī, arrived in a gracious mood and performed, according to proper rite, the upanayana (initiation) for that newborn son of the great seer Vyāsa. Thereupon Śakra (Indra), lord of the gods, of wondrous and divine appearance, …”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage underscores the dharmic importance of saṃskāras—especially upanayana—as a sanctifying rite that authorizes disciplined learning and ethical formation. It also conveys that true dharma is upheld and affirmed by higher spiritual authority: even the greatest rites are ideally performed with reverence, correctness (vidhi), and divine-minded benevolence.
Bhishma narrates an extraordinary event: immediately after the birth of Vyasa’s son, Lord Shiva arrives with Parvati and personally performs the child’s upanayana according to proper ritual procedure. The verse then transitions to Indra (Shakra), described as wondrous and divine in appearance, indicating further celestial participation or the next development in the episode.