Shloka 776

धर्मस्य बहुद्वारत्वम् — Nārada’s Audience with Indra (Śānti-parva 340)

Devanagari script

हिरण्याक्ष॑ वधिष्यामि दैतेयं बलगर्वितम्‌ | जिसके सारे अंग प्राणियोंसे भरे हुए हैं तथा जो समुद्रसे घिरी हुई है

Transliteration

hiraṇyākṣaṁ vadhiṣyāmi daiteyaṁ balagarvitam | yasyāḥ sarvāṅgāni prāṇibhir bhṛtāni sā ca samudraparivṛtā iyam pṛthivī yadā gurubhāreṇa pīḍitā ghoramahāsāgare nimajjayiṣyati tadāhaṁ vārāharūpaṁ dhṛtvā enāṁ punaḥ svasthāne sthāpayiṣyāmi | tasminn eva kāle balamadamattasya hiraṇyākṣanāmno daityasya vadhaṁ kariṣyāmi ||

Translation

“मैं बल के गर्व से भरे दैत्य हिरण्याक्ष का वध करूँगा। यह पृथ्वी, जो समुद्र से घिरी है और जिसके अंग-अंग में प्राणी भरे हैं, जब असह्य भार से दबकर घोर महासागर में डूब जाएगी, तब मैं वाराह-रूप धारण करके इसे उठाकर पुनः अपने स्थान पर स्थापित कर दूँगा। उसी समय बल-मद से अन्धे हिरण्याक्ष नामक दैत्य का संहार कर डालूँगा।”

Word by Word

• {'hiraṇyākṣa': 'Hiraṇyākṣa (a Daitya/demon in the Varāha narrative)', 'vadhiṣyāmi': 'I will kill

• I shall slay (future, 1st sg.)', 'daiteya': 'a Daitya

• demon/anti-god figure', 'balagarvita': 'proud of strength

• arrogant through power', 'pṛthivī': 'the Earth', 'samudra': 'ocean, sea', 'parivṛta': 'surrounded, encircled', 'prāṇin': 'living being, creature', 'bhṛta': 'filled, borne, supported', 'gurubhāra': 'heavy burden

• oppressive weight', 'pīḍita': 'pressed down, afflicted, oppressed', 'nimajj': 'to sink, submerge', 'ghora': 'terrible, dreadful', 'mahāsāgara': 'great ocean', 'vārāha-rūpa': 'the Boar-form (Varāha incarnation)', 'dhṛtvā': 'having assumed/taken up', 'punaḥ': 'again', 'svasthāna': 'one’s own proper place/position', 'sthāpayāmi': 'I establish, set, restore', 'kāla': 'time, occasion', 'mada': 'intoxication, arrogance', 'vadha': 'slaying, killing'}

Speaker

(भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Hiraṇyākṣa
• Daitya/Daiteya
• Pṛthivī (Earth)
• Samudra/Mahāsāgara (Ocean/Great Sea)
• Varāha (Boar-form)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Power that turns into arrogance (bala-garva, mada) becomes destructive and invites downfall; dharma is upheld when the vulnerable—here symbolized by the Earth bearing all beings—are protected and restored to their rightful place.

What is happening in the narrative?

A promise is voiced to rescue the Earth when she sinks into the ocean under an unbearable burden: the speaker declares that he will assume the Varāha (Boar) form, lift and re-establish the Earth, and at that time slay the demon Hiraṇyākṣa who is intoxicated with strength.