Shloka 376

उत्पातदर्शनम् — Portents and Kāla among the Vṛṣṇis

Devanagari script

जघ्नुरन्योन्यमाक्रन्दे मुसलै: कालचोदिता: । उस समय कालसे प्रेरित हुए अन्धक, भोज, शिनि और वृष्णिवंशके लोगोंने उस भीषण मारकाटमें उन्हीं मूसलोंसे एक-दूसरेको मारना आरम्भ किया

Transliteration

jaghnur anyonyam ākrande musalaiḥ kālacoditāḥ |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana dijo: Impulsados por el Tiempo (kāla), comenzaron a matarse unos a otros entre gritos de angustia, usando las mismas mazas de hierro (musala) que se habían vuelto instrumentos de su perdición. La escena muestra que, cuando el destino madura y la contención se derrumba, un linaje poderoso puede volver su fuerza contra sí mismo y destruirse.

Word by Word

• जघ्नुः: they slew/killed
• Type: Verb
• Root: हन् (धातु)
• Form: Perfect (लिट्), 3rd, Plural, Parasmaipada

• अन्योन्यम्: each other, mutually
• अन्योन्यम्: Karma
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अन्योन्य (प्रातिपदिक)

• आक्रन्दे: in the tumult/crying (uproar)
• आक्रन्दे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: आक्रन्द (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• मुसलैः: with clubs/pestles
• मुसलैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुसल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• कालचोदिताः: impelled by Time/fate
• कालचोदिताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कालचोदित (प्रातिपदिक; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त from √चुद्/चोद् with उपसर्ग)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• kāla (Time/Fate)
• musala (iron clubs/pestles)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the moral and philosophical warning that when kāla (the ripening of consequences) arrives and inner discipline fails, power turns into ruin. It frames the catastrophe as both ethical collapse (loss of restraint, mutual violence) and cosmic inevitability (Time impelling events).

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Mausala Parva’s account of the Yādavas’ end, the people—overcome by frenzy and destiny—begin killing each other in a chaotic uproar, using musalas (clubs/pestles). This marks the outbreak of the internecine massacre that annihilates the clan.