Shloka 8
Asita Devala Observes Jaigīṣavya’s Yogic Attainment and Chooses Mokṣa-dharma (देवल-जैगीषव्योपाख्यानम्)
असकृत् पृथिवीं जित्वा हतक्षत्रियपुड्भवाम् । उपाध्यायं पुरस्कृत्य कश्यपं मुनिसत्तमम्,जहाँ महातपस्वी भृगुवंशी महाभाग परशुरामजीने बारंबार क्षत्रियनरेशोंका संहार करके इस पृथ्वीको जीतनेके पश्चात् मुनिश्रेष्ठ कश्यपको आचार्यरूपसे आगे रखकर वाजपेय तथा एक सौ अभश्वमेध-यज्ञद्वारा भगवानका पूजन किया और दक्षिणारूपमें समुद्रोंसहित यह सारी पृथ्वी दे दी
asakṛt pṛthivīṁ jitvā hatakṣatriyapuḍbhavām | upādhyāyaṁ puraskṛtya kaśyapaṁ munisattamam ||
Vaiśampāyana dijo: Tras conquistar repetidas veces la tierra—dejándola desprovista de kṣatriyas—Paraśurāma puso por delante al sabio Kaśyapa, el más excelso de los ascetas, como su preceptor. Así, después de una victoria violenta, reconoció la autoridad espiritual, honró al Señor con grandes sacrificios y, al final, renunció a la propia tierra como don.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Power gained through violence is not the final measure of righteousness; true dharma requires submission to spiritual authority (the guru/ṛṣi) and the capacity to relinquish what one has seized. The verse frames conquest as incomplete until it is transformed into restraint, expiation, and giving.
Vaiśampāyana recounts how Paraśurāma, after repeatedly defeating and killing kṣatriya rulers and thereby conquering the earth, honored the sage Kaśyapa as his leading preceptor. In the broader episode (as reflected in the accompanying tradition), this leads into great sacrifices and the eventual gifting away of the earth as a form of dakṣiṇā.