Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 17 Shloka 38 - Mahabharata | French | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 38

Śiva-stavarāja: Upamanyu’s Preface and Initiation of the Śarva-Nāma Enumeration

Anuśāsana-parva 17

Devanagari script

चन्द्र: सूर्य: शनि: केतुर्ग्रहो ग्रहपतिर्वर: । अत्रिरत््या नमस्कर्ता मृगबाणार्पणो$नघ:

Transliteration

candraḥ sūryaḥ śaniḥ ketur graho grahapatiḥ varaḥ | atrir atryā namaskartā mṛgabāṇārpaṇo 'naghaḥ ||

Translation

Vāyu-deva dit : «(Il est) la Lune, le Soleil, Saturne et Ketu ; le “Graha” (Rāhu, cause des éclipses), le Seigneur et gardien des planètes, le plus digne d’être choisi. (Il est) Atri sous la forme du sage Atri ; celui qui rend hommage à Atryā (Anasūyā, l’épouse d’Atri, sous la forme de Durvāsā) ; et l’Innocent qui décocha une flèche vers le sacrifice lorsque parut la forme du cerf.»

Word by Word

चन्द्रःthe Moon

सूर्यःthe Sun

शनिःSaturn (Shani)

केतुःKetu (the descending node/comet)

ग्रहःa graha (planet/seizer)

ग्रहपतिःlord of the planets

वरःexcellent; best

अत्रिःAtri (the sage)

अत्र्याःof Atri (i.e., of Atri's wife Anasūyā)

नमस्कर्ताone who pays homage; worshipper

मृगबाणार्पणःone who offers/lets fly a deer(-like) arrow; (lit.) arrow-offerer

अनघःsinless; faultless

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vāyu (Vāyudeva)

Candra (Moon)

Sūrya (Sun)

Śani (Saturn)

Ketu

Rāhu (implied by graha as eclipse-causer)

Grahapati (lord of planets; epithet)

Atri Ṛṣi

Anasūyā/Atryā

Durvāsā (implied by the gloss: ‘in the form of Durvāsā’)

Yajña (sacrifice; implied by the gloss)

Mṛga (deer-form; implied by mṛga)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches reverent recognition of a single supreme/divine principle through many names: cosmic regulators (Sun, Moon, planets) and revered sages are presented as manifestations or epithets, implying that dharma includes honoring the divine presence across cosmic and social orders.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu enumerates a chain of exalted identifications—Moon, Sun, planetary powers, Atri, and mythic actions like shooting an arrow at a deer-form at a sacrifice—using them as epithets to describe and glorify the subject being praised, emphasizing both cosmic sovereignty and moral blamelessness (anagha).