Adi Parva Adhyaya 37 Shloka 22 - Mahabharata | Gujarati | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 22

Devanagari script

खुग्भाण्डं निशि गत्वा च अपरे भुजगोत्तमा: । प्रमत्तानां हरन्त्वाशु विघ्न एवं भविष्यति

Transliteration

khugbhāṇḍaṃ niśi gatvā ca apare bhujagottamāḥ | pramattānāṃ harantvāśu vighna evaṃ bhaviṣyati ||

Translation

અને બીજા શ્રેષ્ઠ ભુજંગો રાત્રે ત્યાં જઈ, બેદરકારીથી સૂતા ઋત્વિજોના ખુગુ-ખુવા તથા યજ્ઞપાત્રો વગેરે ઝડપથી ચોરી લાવે; આમ યજ્ઞમાં વિઘ્ન પડશે.

Word by Word

खुग्भाण्डम्the khug-vessel (a kind of utensil)

निशिat night

गत्वाhaving gone

चand

अपरेothers

भुजगोत्तमाःthe best of serpents

प्रमत्तानाम्of the careless / inattentive (ones)

हरन्तुlet them carry off / steal

आशुquickly

विघ्नःan obstacle

एवम्thus

भविष्यतिwill be / will happen

Speaker

शेष उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śeṣa

bhujagas (serpents)

Ṛ

ṛtvijas (sacrificial priests)

khugū (ritual item, as per Gita Press Hindi gloss)

khuvā (ritual item, as per Gita Press Hindi gloss)

yajñapātra (sacrificial vessels)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights an ethically negative strategy: creating a ritual ‘vighna’ by theft and stealth. It implicitly contrasts dharmic conduct (protecting sacred rites) with adharmic means (sabotage, exploiting others’ negligence), showing how moral lapses become tools in conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śeṣa instructs other leading serpents to go at night and steal the priests’ sacrificial implements while they are asleep and careless, so that the sacrifice is disrupted by a deliberate obstacle.