Shloka 53
ब्राह्मणस्य पूर्वतरा वृत्तिः — The Earlier Ideal Conduct of a Brahmana
River-of-Saṃsāra Metaphor
विश्वजित् प्रतिरूपश्व वृषाण्डो विष्करो मधु: । हिरण्यकशि पुश्चिव कैटभश्वैव दानव:
Viśvajit pratirūpaśva vṛṣāṇḍo viṣkaro madhuḥ | hiraṇyakaśipuś caiva kaiṭabhaś caiva dānavaḥ ||
ભીષ્મે કહ્યું— “વિશ્વજિત્, પ્રતરૂપશ્વ, વૃષાણ્ડ, વિષ્કર, મધુ, હિરણ્યકશિપુ અને કૈટભ—આ પણ દાનવો હતા.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
By listing renowned Dānavas, Bhīṣma highlights that forces opposed to dharma recur across ages; their power is real, but it is bounded by the moral-cosmic order in which arrogance and hostility to righteousness ultimately lead to defeat.
Bhīṣma is continuing a descriptive enumeration of Dānavas (a catalog of notable anti-divine beings), naming several figures—Madhu, Hiraṇyakaśipu, and Kaiṭabha among them—as part of a broader account in Śānti Parva.