Shloka 23
Raibhya-putrayoḥ satra-vṛttāntaḥ — The Satra Episode of Raibhya’s Sons
Parāvasu and Arvāvasu
ततः प्रादुर्बभूवुस्ते सर्व एव युधिष्ठिर । अथाब्रवीद् यवक्रीतो देवानग्निपुरोगमान्,तथायुक्तेन विधिना निहन्तुममरोत्तमा: । युधिष्ठिर! इसके बाद पूर्वोक्त सभी मुनि जीवित हो गये। उस समय यवक्रीतने अग्नि आदि सम्पूर्ण देवताओंसे पूछा--*देवेश्वरो! मैंने वेदका अध्ययन किया है, वेदोक्त व्रतोंका अनुष्ठान भी किया है। मैं स्वाध्यायशील और तपस्वी भी हूँ, तो भी रैभ्यमुनि इस प्रकार अनुचित रीतिसे मेरा वध करनेमें कैसे समर्थ हो सके”
tataḥ prādurbabhūvus te sarva eva yudhiṣṭhira | athābravīd yavakrīto devān agnipurogamān tathāyuktena vidhinā nihantum amarottamāḥ |
Then, O Yudhiṣṭhira, all those sages reappeared alive. Thereupon Yavakrīta addressed the gods, with Agni at their head: “O best of the immortals, how could the sage Raibhya, by a method contrary to right procedure, become capable of killing me—when I have studied the Veda, performed the Vedic observances, and live devoted to self-study and austerity?”
लोगमश उवाच
Educational Q&A
Merit from Vedic learning and austerity does not automatically guarantee moral invulnerability; when one acts with pride or violates propriety, destructive consequences can arise even through seemingly ‘improper’ means. The passage highlights the ethical tension between ritual merit and right conduct (dharma).
After a crisis in the Yavakrīta–Raibhya episode, the previously mentioned sages are restored to life. Yavakrīta then questions the gods led by Agni, asking how Raibhya could kill him by an improper method despite Yavakrīta’s Vedic study, observances, self-study, and austerities.