Shloka 276
मातापितृपूजन-प्रधानधर्मः (Primacy of Filial Service) — Mārkaṇḍeya’s Account of the Vyādha’s Instruction
सगरस्यात्मजान् क्रुद्धस्तदद्भुतमिवाभवत् । नृपश्रेष्ठ! जैसे पूर्वकालमें भगवान् कपिलने कुपित होकर राजा सगरके सभी पुत्रोंको क्षणभरमें दग्ध कर दिया था, उसी प्रकार क्रोधमें भरे हुए धुन्धुने, मानो वह सम्पूर्ण लोकोंको नष्ट कर देना चाहता हो, अपने मुखसे आग प्रकट करके कुवलाश्वके पुत्रोंको जला दिया। यह एक अद्भुत-सी घटना घटित हुई
sagarasyātmajān kruddhas tadadbhutam ivābhavat | nṛpaśreṣṭha! yathā pūrvakāle bhagavān kapilo kupitaḥ san rājñaḥ sagarasya sarvān putrān kṣaṇabhareṇa dagdhavān, tathā krodhabharitaḥ dhundhuḥ sarvān lokān nāśayitum iva icchan mukhād agniṃ prādurabhāvya kuvalāśvasya putrān ajālayat | eṣā adbhutā iva ghaṭanā samabhavat ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “O best of kings, it was as astonishing as that ancient event when the blessed sage Kapila, angered, reduced all of King Sagara’s sons to ashes in an instant. In the same way, the demon Dhundhu, swollen with wrath—as though he wished to destroy the whole world—made fire burst forth from his mouth and burned the sons of Kuvalāśva. Thus an extraordinary and fearful occurrence took place.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Unchecked anger becomes a force of indiscriminate destruction: whether in a sage’s curse-like wrath or a demon’s fury, it consumes the innocent and overturns order. The passage warns rulers to restrain krodha and uphold dharma through self-control.
Mārkaṇḍeya compares two catastrophic burnings: earlier, Kapila’s anger incinerated Sagara’s sons; here, Dhundhu, raging as if to annihilate the worlds, emits fire from his mouth and burns King Kuvalāśva’s sons—an event described as wondrous and terrifying.