Shloka 23

Draupadī’s Rebuke of Jayadratha and Dhaumya’s Admonition (Āraṇyaka-parva, Adhyāya 252)

Devanagari script

आह्वानाय तदा चक्कु: कर्म वैतानसम्भवम्‌ । बृहस्पत्युशनोक्तैश्न मन्त्रैर्मन्त्रविशारदा:

Transliteration

āhvānāya tadā cakkuḥ karma vaitānasambhavam | bṛhaspatyuśanoktaiś ca mantrair mantraviśāradāḥ ||

Translation

वैशम्पायन बोले—तब उसे बुलाने के लिए, मन्त्रों में निपुण उन लोगों ने बृहस्पति और उशनस् (शुक्राचार्य) द्वारा कहे गए मन्त्रों से वैतान कर्म का अनुष्ठान किया।

Word by Word

• आह्वानाय: for calling/summoning
• आह्वानाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: आह्वान
• Form: Neuter, Dative, Singular

• तदा: then
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• चक्रुः: they performed/did
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), Third, Plural

• कर्म: rite/act
• कर्म: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्मन्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• वैतान-सम्भवम्: arising from the Vaitāna (Vedic sacrificial) tradition
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वैतानसम्भव
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• बृहस्पति-उशनः-उक्तैः: spoken/propounded by Bṛhaspati and Uśanas (Śukra)
• बृहस्पति-उशनः-उक्तैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बृहस्पत्युशनोक्त
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• मन्त्रैः: with mantras
• मन्त्रैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मन्त्र
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• मन्त्र-विशारदाः: skilled in mantras
• मन्त्र-विशारदाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मन्त्रविशारद
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Bṛhaspati
• Uśanas (Śukrācārya)
• Vaitāna rite (Atharvavedic ritual)
• Mantras

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights that ritual knowledge and mantra-power are ethically neutral tools: their moral value depends on intention. Here, learned rites are driven by factional fear and self-preservation, illustrating how spiritual techniques can be pressed into service of adharma when motivated by expediency rather than righteousness.

What is happening in the narrative?

The mantra-experts (in the broader episode, Daityas/Dānavas) perform an Atharvavedic/Vaitāna ritual using mantras attributed to Bṛhaspati and Uśanas in order to summon the intended person (contextually, Duryodhana) to their presence.