Shloka 118

ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana

River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor

Devanagari script

महर्षयस्तुष्टवुरञ्जसा च त॑ वृषाकपिं सर्वचराचरेश्वरम्‌ । हिमापहो हव्यमुवाह चाध्वरे तथामृतं चार्पितमीश्वरोडपि हि

Transliteration

maharṣayas tuṣṭavur añjasā ca taṁ vṛṣākapiṁ sarvacarācareśvaram | himāpaho havyam uvāha cādhvare tathāmṛtaṁ cārpitam īśvaro 'pi hi ||

Translation

Dijo Bhīṣma: Los grandes sabios alabaron debida y sinceramente a Vṛṣākapi—Indra, señor de todo lo que se mueve y de todo lo que permanece inmóvil. En aquel sacrificio, Agni, el que ahuyenta el frío, llevó las oblaciones destinadas a los dioses; e Indra, soberano divino, bebió también el néctar que sus servidores le presentaron.

Word by Word

• {'maharṣayaḥ': 'great seers, eminent sages', 'tuṣṭavuḥ': 'praised, eulogized', 'añjasā': 'straightforwardly

• sincerely', 'vṛṣākapi': 'Vṛṣākapi (epithet of Indra)', 'sarva-carācara-īśvara': 'lord of all moving and non-moving beings (the whole world)', 'himāpaha': 'remover of cold (epithet of Agni)', 'havya': 'oblation offered to the gods', 'uvāha': 'carried, conveyed', 'adhvara': 'sacrifice

• sacrificial rite (yajña)', 'amṛta': 'nectar of immortality

• ambrosia', 'arpita': 'offered, presented', 'īśvara': 'lord, sovereign (here: Indra)', 'sevakaiḥ (implied by Hindi gloss)': 'attendants, servants'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Maharṣis (great seers)
• Vṛṣākapi (Indra)
• Agni
• Devas (gods)
• Havya (oblations)
• Adhvara/Yajña (sacrifice)
• Amṛta (nectar)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights yajña-dharma: sincere praise, proper offering through Agni, and rightful acceptance by the deity together sustain order and legitimacy—ritual action mirrors ethical harmony between humans, gods, and the cosmos.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sages extol Indra (called Vṛṣākapi) as lord of the universe; Agni functions as the sacrificial messenger carrying oblations to the gods; Indra receives and drinks the offered amṛta, indicating the sacrifice’s successful completion and divine satisfaction.