Shloka 14

Ādi-parva Adhyāya 209: Śaraṇāgati of the Cursed Apsarases; Nārītīrtha-prasiddhi; Arjuna’s Vimocana

Devanagari script

आश्रमेष्वग्निहोत्राणि मुनीनां भावितात्मनाम्‌ | गृहीत्वा प्रक्षिपन्त्यप्सु विश्रब्धं सैनिकास्तयो:,उनके सैनिक शुद्धात्मा मुनियोंके आश्रमोंपर जाकर उनके अन्निहोत्रकी सामग्री उठाकर बिना किसी डर-भयके पानीमें फेंक देते थे

Transliteration

āśrameṣv agnihotrāṇi munīnāṁ bhāvitātmanām | gṛhītvā prakṣipanty apsu viśrabdhaṁ sainikās tayoḥ ||

Translation

Nārada said: In the hermitages of sages whose selves were disciplined and purified, the soldiers of those two (parties) would seize the materials meant for the agnihotra rites and, without any fear or restraint, fling them into the water—an act that violates reverence for ascetic life and disrupts sacred duty.

Word by Word

आश्रमेषुin the hermitages

अग्निहोत्राणिAgnihotra offerings/rites (materials for Agnihotra)

मुनीनाम्of the sages

भावितात्मनाम्of the self-disciplined / purified-souled

गृहीत्वाhaving taken

प्रक्षिपन्तिthey throw/cast

अप्सुinto the waters

विश्रब्धम्fearlessly / without apprehension

सैनिकाःthe soldiers

तयोःof those two

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nārada

muni (sages)

āśrama (hermitages)

agnihotra (fire-ritual) materials

āpas (waters)

sainika (soldiers)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even in conflict, dharma requires restraint and reverence toward sacred rites and ascetics. To desecrate a hermitage and obstruct agnihotra is portrayed as adharma—an ethical collapse that harms both society’s spiritual order and the perpetrators’ moral standing.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada describes misconduct by the soldiers of two opposing sides: they enter the sages’ hermitages, seize the agnihotra materials, and throw them into water without fear, thereby interrupting the sages’ daily sacrificial observances.