Shloka 13
Vasiṣṭhāpavāha: Sarasvatī’s Diversion and Viśvāmitra’s Curse (वसिष्ठापवाहः)
बको दाल्भ्यो महाराज नियमं परमं स्थित: । स तैरेव जुहावास्य राष्ट्र मांसैर्महातपा:
Vaiśampāyana uvāca | bako dālbhyō mahārāja niyamaṁ paramaṁ sthitaḥ | sa taireva juhāvāsya rāṣṭraṁ māṁsair mahātapāḥ, krodhena mahatāviṣṭo dharmātmā vai pratāpavān |
Vaiśampāyana dit : Ô roi, Baka, fils de Dālbhyā, fermement établi dans un vœu suprême, était un grand ascète—juste et puissant. Saisi d’une colère immense, il alluma le feu du yajña et fit l’oblation du royaume lui-même, n’employant pour offrande que la chair d’animaux déjà morts. Le passage souligne la tension morale entre le tapas (discipline spirituelle) et le krodha (colère), lorsque la puissance ascétique se tourne vers des fins destructrices.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a moral paradox: a person may be dharmic and highly disciplined, yet if overtaken by krodha, the same tapas and ritual capacity can become destructive. It cautions that spiritual power requires inner restraint and ethical clarity, not merely austerity.
Vaiśampāyana recounts an episode connected with a sacred place: the ascetic Baka Dālbhyā, overwhelmed by great anger, performs a fierce kind of oblation—symbolically ‘offering’ a kingdom—using flesh as the sacrificial substance, illustrating the potency and danger of wrath-driven ascetic acts.