Shloka 29

Post–Baka-vadha Residence and the Introduction of Yājñasenī’s Svayaṃvara (आदि पर्व, अध्याय १५३)

Devanagari script

अहमेको नयिष्यामि त्वामद्य यमसादनम्‌ । अद्य मद्धलनिष्पिष्टं शिरो राक्षस दीर्यताम्‌ कुञ्जरस्येव पादेन विनिष्पिष्टं बलीयस:,“आज मैं अकेला ही तुझे यमलोक भेज दूँगा। निशाचर! जैसे अत्यन्त बलवान्‌ हाथीके पैरसे दबकर किसीका भी मस्तक पिस जाता है, उसी प्रकार मेरे बलपूर्वक आघातसे कुचला जाकर तेरा सिर फट जायगा

Transliteration

vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca |

ahaṃ eko nayiṣyāmi tvām adya yamasādanam |

adya mad-bala-niṣpiṣṭaṃ śiro rākṣasa dīryatām |

kuñjarasyeva pādena viniṣpiṣṭaṃ balīyasaḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “Today I alone shall send you to Yama’s abode. O Rākṣasa, may your head be crushed by my force and split apart—just as anyone’s skull is pulverized when pressed beneath the foot of a mighty elephant.”

Word by Word

• {'aham (अहम्)': 'I', 'ekaḥ (एकः)': 'alone, single-handed', 'nayiṣyāmi (नयिष्यामि)': 'I shall lead/take (here: send, dispatch)', 'tvām (त्वाम्)': 'you', 'adya (अद्य)': 'today, now', 'yamasādanam (यमसादनम्)': 'the abode/seat of Yama

• the realm of death', 'mad-bala (मद्बल)': 'my strength, my force', 'niṣpiṣṭam (निष्पिष्टम्)': 'crushed, ground down', 'śiraḥ (शिरः)': 'head', 'rākṣasa (राक्षस)': 'Rākṣasa

• demon/ogre (vocative address)', 'dīryatām (दीर्यताम्)': 'let it split/burst apart (imperative/passive sense)', 'kuñjara (कुञ्जर)': 'elephant', 'pāda (पाद)': 'foot', 'iva (इव)': 'like, as', 'viniṣpiṣṭam (विनिष्पिष्टम्)': 'thoroughly crushed, pressed down', 'balīyasaḥ (बलीयसः)': 'of the stronger/mightier one (genitive)'}

Speaker

वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• Yama
• Yamasādana (abode of Yama)
• Rākṣasa
• Elephant (kuñjara)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the epic’s recurring ethic that violent, predatory force (here associated with a Rākṣasa) invites decisive retribution; death is framed as entry into Yama’s domain, underscoring moral consequence and the inevitability of accountability.

What is happening in the narrative?

A speaker issues a direct, single-handed threat to a Rākṣasa, declaring he will send him to Yama’s abode and describing, through an elephant-foot simile, the crushing blow that will split the demon’s head.