Shloka 25
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 148: Vāsudeva’s Report—Mobilization and the Nīti Sequence
Sāma–Bheda–Daṇḍa
हीनाड़ पृथिवीपालं नाभिनन्दन्ति देवता: । इति कृत्वा नृपश्रेष्ठ प्रत्यषेधन् द्विजर्षभा:
hīnāṅgaṃ pṛthivīpālaṃ nābhinandanti devatāḥ | iti kṛtvā nṛpaśreṣṭha pratyāṣedhan dvijarṣabhāḥ ||
“The gods do not approve a king who is deficient in any limb.” Therefore, O best of kings, the foremost brāhmaṇas, holding to this principle, refused to perform the consecration of the eminent king Pratīpa at Devāpikā.
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a traditional norm: a ruler must meet accepted standards of ritual fitness, and priestly custodians of rites may withhold consecration if those standards are not met. It highlights how legitimacy is tied to perceived auspiciousness and dharmic convention in the epic’s social-religious framework.
Vāyu explains that because the gods are said not to approve a physically deficient king, leading Brahmins refused to perform the royal consecration of King Pratīpa at the sacred place Devāpikā, thereby preventing his anointment there.