Shloka 17
Uttanka’s Guru-Śuśrūṣā and the Commission to Retrieve the Maṇikuṇḍalas (उत्तङ्क-गुरुशुश्रूषा तथा मणिकुण्डल-आदेशः)
भीषण बद्धनिस्त्रिंशं बाणकार्मुकधारिणम् | तस्याध: स्रोतसो5पश्यद् वारि भूरि द्विजोत्तम:
bhīṣaṇa-baddha-nistriṁśaṁ bāṇa-kārmuka-dhāriṇam | tasyādhaḥ srotaso 'paśyad vāri bhūri dvijottamaḥ ||
Il paraissait d’une effrayante violence : l’épée était attachée à sa taille, et il portait arc et flèches en ses mains. Alors Uttaṅka, le meilleur des deux-fois-nés, vit qu’au-dessous, près de ses pieds, par une ouverture, se déversait un flot d’eau abondant.
उत्तडुक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how outward power and terror (weapons, fearsome appearance) can accompany hidden forces that sustain the world (the abundant water-stream). It invites discernment: dharma requires looking beyond appearances to perceive underlying realities and causes.
Uttaṅka describes seeing a frightening, armed figure with a sword at his waist and bow and arrows in hand. Uttaṅka then notices that a large flow of water is issuing from an opening beneath the figure, near his feet—an ominous and suggestive detail that points to a deeper, possibly supernatural context.