Shloka 20

Kālayavana’s Rise, Dvārakā’s Founding, and Muchukunda’s Awakening (Śaraṇāgati & Brahman-Stuti)

Devanagari script

दृष्टमात्रश् च तेनासौ जज्वाल यवनो ऽग्निना तत्क्रोधजेन मैत्रेय भस्मीभूतश् च तत्क्षणात्

Transliteration

dṛṣṭamātraś ca tenāsau jajvāla yavano 'gninā tatkrodhajena maitreya bhasmībhūtaś ca tatkṣaṇāt

Translation

The moment he was merely looked upon by him, that Yavana blazed up in fire—born of the king’s wrath; and, O Maitreya, in that very instant he was reduced to ashes.

Word by Word

• दृष्टमात्रः: at the mere sight (of him)
• दृष्टमात्रः: Kriya-visheṣaṇa (Adverbial qualifier/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दृष्ट (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, √दृश्) + मात्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (दृष्टं मात्रं यस्य/दृष्टमात्रे) ‘at mere sight/only seen’ (idiomatic)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction: and)

• तेन: by him
• तेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक, तृतीया, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• असौ: that one (the Yavana)
• असौ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अदस् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; सर्वनाम (demonstrative)

• जज्वाल: blazed/burned
• जज्वाल: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ज्वल् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• यवनः: the Yavana
• यवनः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यवन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• अग्निना: with fire
• अग्निना: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अग्नि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन

• तत्क्रोधजेन: by that wrath-born (fire)
• तत्क्रोधजेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + क्रोध (प्रातिपदिक) + ज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक, तृतीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (तस्य क्रोधात् जातः) ‘born of his wrath’

• मैत्रेय: O Maitreya
• मैत्रेय: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मैत्रेय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन

• भस्मीभूतः: reduced to ashes
• भस्मीभूतः: Karta (Subject complement/कर्तृपूरक)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भस्मी (प्रातिपदिक) + भूत (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, √भू)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; अव्ययीभाव (भस्मी-भूय) ‘become ashes’

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (and)

• तत्क्षणात्: instantly
• तत्क्षणात्: Kāla (Time/काल)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + क्षण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास; पञ्चमी-अर्थे अव्यय (ablatival adverb): ‘immediately/at that very moment’

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (narrating) to Maitreya

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Teaching: Historical

Quality: authoritative

Avatara Context

Avatara: Krishna

Purpose: Krishna’s protection culminates in the instant destruction of the aggressor through Muchukunda’s boon-born fiery glance.

Leela: Loka-rakshana

Dharma Restored: Swift removal of violent adharma threatening the Lord’s devotees and the social order

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Violence against the innocent rebounds as immediate destruction when one confronts divinely sanctioned tejas; adharma carries its own consuming fire.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Avoid offenses and cruelty; recognize that power used unrighteously invites swift collapse, while restraint and righteousness preserve one’s life-path.

Vishishtadvaita: Divine governance works through empowered agents and boons within the real world-order, expressing the Lord’s protective will.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Hari

Characters & Entities

• Maitreya
• Yavana (Kālayavana)
• King Muchukunda

FAQs

What is the significance of Kālayavana being burned to ashes in the Vishnu Purana?

It illustrates immediate karmic retribution and the restoration of dharma: an aggressor is destroyed not by ordinary weaponry, but by the divinely empowered consequence of confronting a righteous king.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the power behind Muchukunda’s gaze?

Parāśara frames it as fire arising from the king’s wrath—an extraordinary, fate-activated potency that manifests the moment the Yavana is seen, emphasizing inevitability and moral causality within the narrative.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

Even when not named in the verse, the episode functions within Vishnu’s sovereignty over order: kings and events operate as instruments through which the Supreme Reality sustains dharma and curbs adharma.