Shloka 8
Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 180 — Svayaṃvara-Virodha and Pāṇḍava Parākrama
Draupadī Episode
तान् भूगूणां यदा दारान् वक्रिन्नाभ्युपपद्यत । माता तदा दधारेयमूरुणैकेन मां शुभा
tān bhṛgūṇāṃ yadā dārān rakṣitā nābhyupapadyata | mātā tadā dadhāreyam ūrūṇā ekena māṃ śubhā || tataḥ paramaduṣprāpam anyair ṛṣir udāradhīḥ | samāpipayiṣuḥ satraṃ tam atriḥ samupāgamat ||
Aurva dit : «Quand nul protecteur ne put être trouvé pour les épouses des Bhṛgu, ma mère bénie me cacha dans l’une de ses cuisses. Ensuite, comprenant qu’il serait presque impossible à d’autres de mettre fin à cette session sacrificielle, le sage Atri, au cœur noble, vint en ce lieu, souhaitant que ce satra fût conclu.»
ऑर्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds dharma as protection: when social order fails to provide a guardian, a mother’s courageous, resourceful protection preserves lineage and life. It also highlights restraint in ritual power—great sages like Atri intervene to conclude a dangerous or unmanageable sacrificial undertaking rather than let it escalate.
Auruva recounts how, during a time when the Bhṛgu women lacked any protector, his mother concealed him in her thigh to save him. Then the sage Atri arrives, intending to bring a prolonged sacrificial session (satra) to its proper conclusion, recognizing that ending it would be extremely difficult for others.