Shloka 29
वेन-पृथु-प्रादुर्भावः, राजधर्मः, पृथिवीदोहनम्
Vena–Pṛthu Episode and the Milking of Earth
इत्य् उक्त्वा मन्त्रपूतैस् तैः कुशैर् मुनिगणा नृपम् निजघ्नुर् निहतं पूर्वं भगवन्निन्दनादिना
ity uktvā mantrapūtais taiḥ kuśair munigaṇā nṛpam nijaghnur nihataṃ pūrvaṃ bhagavannindanādinā
Having spoken thus, the bands of sages struck down the king with kuśa blades sanctified by mantra; in truth he had already been slain before—by reviling the Lord (Bhagavān), the first cause of his downfall.
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: How Vena was slain and why bhagavad-nindā itself is causal death
Teaching: Historical
Quality: revealing
Concept: Bhagavad-nindā is self-destructive: even before physical death, the blasphemer is ‘already slain’ by the karmic rupture of enmity toward the Lord.
Vedantic Theme: Karma
Application: Guard speech and attitude toward the sacred; cultivate humility and reverence, recognizing that contempt corrodes one’s own inner stability and destiny.
Vishishtadvaita: Offense against Bhagavān is a real moral-causal breach within a real world-order; divine and dharmic law operates through mantra, conduct, and consequence.
Key Kings: Vena
Vishnu Form: Hari
FAQs
This verse presents Bhagavān-nindā as a self-destructive act: the king is said to be “already slain” by his offense, and the sages’ action merely manifests the karmic consequence.
Parāśara frames the outer event (the sages killing the king with mantra-purified kuśa) as secondary to the inner cause—adharma beginning with contempt for Bhagavān—showing karma and divine order working through human agents.
Vishnu is implied as the supreme ground of dharma: when a ruler turns against Bhagavān, sovereignty loses its legitimacy and protection, and downfall follows as an expression of cosmic and moral law.