Shloka 30

Vasiṣṭhāpavāha: Sarasvatī’s Diversion and Viśvāmitra’s Curse (वसिष्ठापवाहः)

Devanagari script

मांसैरभिजुहावेष्टिमक्षीयन्त ततो<$सुरा: । दैवतैरपि सम्भग्ना जितकाशिभिराहवे

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca: māṃsair abhijuhāveṣṭim akṣīyanta tato 'surāḥ | daivatair api sambhagnā jitakāśibhir āhave, mahārāja |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana dit : Alors, par un rite d’abhichāra—hostile et destructeur, avec des offrandes de chair—les Asuras commencèrent à dépérir. Brisés et mis en déroute par les dieux, resplendissants de victoire au combat, ils furent chassés et anéantis, ô roi.

Word by Word

• {'māṃsaiḥ': 'with flesh

• by means of meat offerings (instrumental plural of māṃsa)', 'abhijuhāva': 'he offered into the fire

• he performed oblations (perfect of √hu, with abhi-)', 'iṣṭim': 'a sacrifice

• sacrificial rite (accusative singular of iṣṭi)', 'akṣīyanta': 'they diminished

• they wasted away (imperfect/passive of √kṣi)', 'tataḥ': 'then

• thereafter', 'asurāḥ': 'Asuras

• anti-god/demonic powers', 'daivataiḥ': 'by the gods

• by divine beings (instrumental plural of daivata)', 'api': 'also

• even', 'sambhagnāḥ': "shattered

• routed (past passive participle of sam-√bhaj/√bhañj in sense 'to break')", 'jitakāśibhiḥ': 'by those shining with victory

• jita + kāśin)', 'āhave': 'in battle

• in combat (locative singular of āhava)', 'mahārāja': 'O great king (vocative)'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Asuras
• Daivatas (gods)
• Āhava (battle)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents a Mahābhārata theme: forces opposed to dharma (here, the Asuras) are weakened when divine-aligned power—ritual and martial—acts in concert. It frames victory not only as battlefield prowess but as the outcome of a larger moral-cosmic alignment.

What is happening in the narrative?

A destructive (abhichāra) sacrificial rite using flesh offerings is said to cause the Asuras to decline; subsequently the gods, radiant with victory, shatter and rout them in battle.