Shloka 13
आदि पर्व, अध्याय 67 — गान्धर्वविवाह-समयः
Duḥṣanta–Śakuntalā: Gandharva Marriage and Succession Condition
उग्रसेन इति ख्यात उग्रकर्मा नराधिप: । यस्त्वश्व इति विख्यात: श्रीमानासीन्महासुर:
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
ugrasena iti khyāta ugra-karmā narādhipaḥ |
yas tv aśva iti vikhyātaḥ śrīmān āsīn mahāsuraḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana berkata: “Ada seorang raja manusia yang termasyhur dengan nama Ugrasena, penguasa yang keras perbuatannya. Dan Mahāsura yang mulia, yang dahulu dikenal sebagai ‘Aśva’, pun lahir di dunia manusia ini (dalam wujud raja).”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse participates in the epic’s moral-cosmic framing of history: powerful beings (here, Asuras) manifest in the human realm as kings, implying that political power and character are shaped by prior nature and karma, and that worldly events reflect a larger cosmic order.
Vaiśampāyana continues a catalog describing how certain Asuras are born on earth as human rulers. In this specific line, he identifies a human king named Ugrasena as famed for fierce deeds, and links him with a splendid great Asura known as ‘Aśva’.