Shloka 27

Aṣṭāvakra–Bandi Vāda at Janaka’s Assembly

Numerical Cosmology and Restitution

Devanagari script

अद्टावक्र उवाच मा स्म ते ते गृहे राजज्छात्रवाणामपि ध्रुवम्‌ । वातसारथिरागन्ता गर्भ सुषुवतुश्चव॒ तम्‌,अष्टावक्र बोले--राजन्‌! वे दोनों तुम्हारे शत्रुओंके घरपर भी कभी न गिरें। वायु जिसका सारथि है वह मेघरूप देव ही इन दोनोंके गर्भको धारण करनेवाला है और ये दोनों उस मेघरूप गर्भको उत्पन्न करनेवाले हैं-

Transliteration

aṣṭāvakra uvāca | mā sma te te gṛhe rājan chātravāṇām api dhruvam | vātasārathir āgantā megharūpo deva eva etayoḥ garbhaṃ dhārayitā | etau ca tasya megharūpasya garbhasya janayitārau ||

Translation

Aṣṭāvakra dijo: «Oh rey, que esos dos no caigan jamás—ni siquiera, con certeza, sobre las casas de tus enemigos. El divino que llega con el viento por auriga—el dios en forma de nube—es quien lleva el vientre de esos dos; y esos dos, a su vez, engendran ese vientre semejante a una nube.»

Word by Word

• {'aṣṭāvakra uvāca': 'Aṣṭāvakra said', 'mā sma': 'may it not be

• a strong prohibition/blessing in the negative', 'te': 'your', 'gṛhe': 'upon/into the house

• at the home', 'rājan': 'O king', 'chātravāṇām api': 'even of enemies (lit. of hostile/foe-people)

• contextual sense: adversaries', 'dhruvam': 'certainly, assuredly', 'vāta-sārathiḥ': 'one whose charioteer is the wind

• wind-driven', 'āgantā': 'the one who comes/arrives', 'megha-rūpaḥ': 'cloud-formed

• in the form of a cloud', 'devaḥ': 'a god

• the divine being', 'garbham': 'womb

• that which is borne/contained', 'dhārayitā': 'bearer, supporter, holder', 'janayitārau': 'the two begetters/causers of birth'}

Speaker

अद्टावक्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Aṣṭāvakra
• King (rājan)
• Enemies (chātravāṇaḥ, contextual)
• Wind (vāta)
• Cloud (megha)
• Deva (a divine being)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames speech as ethically charged: even when speaking of harm, the sage redirects it into a protective benediction—wishing that destructive forces not fall on anyone’s home, not even an enemy’s. It also gestures to a broader dharmic vision in which natural powers operate in mutual dependence rather than in simple hostility.

What is happening in the narrative?

Aṣṭāvakra addresses the king and utters a protective statement. He uses a striking natural metaphor—wind-driven, cloud-formed divinity and the imagery of bearing and begetting—to describe a cyclical relationship in nature, while simultaneously expressing a wish that calamity should not strike households.