Mahabharata (Gita Press) 3.21.24 - Vana Parva, Adhyaya 21, Shloka 24
Dvārakā’s Distress and the Saubha Engagement (द्वारकाव्यग्रता तथा सौभयुद्धम्)
विशीर्णमलिनोष्णीष: प्रकीर्णाम्बरमूर्धज: । प्रपतन् दृश्यते ह सम क्षीणपुण्य इव ग्रह:
viśīrṇa-malinoṣṇīṣaḥ prakīrṇāmbara-mūrdhajaḥ | prapatan dṛśyate ha sama kṣīṇa-puṇya iva grahaḥ ||
His turban, soiled and loosened, had fallen apart; his garments and hair were scattered in disarray. As he plunged downward, he appeared like a star bereft of merit—its radiance spent—falling from its station.
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a vivid simile—‘like a celestial body whose merit is exhausted’—to suggest that outward collapse mirrors inner depletion: when पुण्य (merit) is spent, one’s stability, dignity, and ‘radiance’ (status/fortune) can fall away. It reinforces the Mahābhārata’s ethical theme that actions and accumulated merit have tangible consequences.
Vāyudeva describes a figure seen falling, with turban, clothes, and hair disheveled. The imagery emphasizes sudden downfall and loss of composure, comparing the person’s appearance in descent to a star/planet dropping from its place after its merit is exhausted.
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