Shloka 29
Vipula’s Yogic Protection of the Guru’s Household (विपुलस्य योगरक्षा / Vipulasya Yogarakṣā)
अन्तक: पवनो मृत्यु: पातालं वडवामुखम् | क्षुरधारा विषं सर्पों वल्विरित्येकतः स्त्रिय:
antakaḥ pavano mṛtyuḥ pātālaṃ vaḍavāmukham | kṣuradhārā viṣaṃ sarpo valvir ity ekataḥ striyaḥ ||
અંતક, પવન, મૃત્યુ, પાતાળ, વડવામુખ (સમુદ્રાગ્નિ), ક્ષુરધારા, વિષ, સર્પ અને અગ્નિ—વિનાશના આ બધા કારણો એક બાજુ; અને બીજી બાજુ સ્ત્રીઓ એકલી—તેમની સમાન કહેવાય છે.
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses deliberate exaggeration to warn that uncontrolled attraction and careless conduct can be as ruinous as the most lethal forces; it presses the ethical lesson of vigilance, restraint, and discernment in relationships.
In the Anuśāsana Parva’s instruction section, Bhīṣma is delivering moral counsel; here he lists archetypal agents of destruction and then compares them to the danger he associates with women, as part of a broader admonitory discourse on conduct and self-mastery.