Shloka 203
Śoka-śamana: Kṛṣṇa’s Consolation and Nārada’s Exempla to Sṛñjaya
Chapter 29
संवर्तो याजयामास यवीयान् स बृहस्पते: । उन्होंने देवराज इन्द्रसे स्पर्धा रखनेके कारण अपने यज्ञ-वैभवद्वारा उन्हें पराजित कर दिया था। इन्द्रका प्रिय चाहनेवाले बृहस्पतिजीने जब उनका यज्ञ करानेसे इन्कार कर दिया
Saṃvarto yājayāmāsa yavīyān sa Bṛhaspateḥ |
Vāyu dit : «Saṃvarta, le cadet de Bṛhaspati, fut le prêtre officiant et mena le sacrifice. Parce qu’il rivalisait avec Indra, il triompha du seigneur des dieux par l’éclat et la puissance de ce rite. Lorsque Bṛhaspati—désireux du bien d’Indra—refusa d’officier, ce fut son jeune frère Saṃvarta qui accomplit le sacrifice du roi Marutta.»
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the ethical tension between loyalty and duty: Bṛhaspati refuses to officiate out of concern for Indra, while Saṃvarta accepts and demonstrates how ritual power and personal rivalry can reshape divine-human relations. It implicitly warns that spiritual authority (yajña-śakti) can be used competitively, so intention and allegiance matter in dharmic action.
Vāyu narrates that Saṃvarta, Bṛhaspati’s younger brother, became the priest for King Marutta’s sacrifice. Bṛhaspati declined to conduct it because he favored Indra; Saṃvarta, motivated by rivalry with Indra, performed the yajña and, through its grandeur, is said to have surpassed or ‘defeated’ Indra’s standing.