Shloka 25

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

Devanagari script

निवृत्तपितृकार्य च निर्वषट्‌्कारमज्लम्‌ । जगत्‌ प्रतिभयाकारं दुष्प्रेक्षष्म भवत्‌ तदा,श्राद्धकर्म लुप्त हो गया। वषट्कार और मंगलका कहीं नाम नहीं रह गया। सारा जगत्‌ भयानक प्रतीत होता था। इसकी ओर देखनातक कठिन हो गया था

Transliteration

nivṛttapitṛkāryaṃ ca nirvaṣaṭkāram aṅgalam | jagat pratibhayākāraṃ duṣprekṣyam abhavat tadā ||

Translation

Narada said: “Then the rites owed to the ancestors came to a halt; the sacred ‘vaṣaṭ’ exclamation and all auspicious observances disappeared. The whole world took on a terrifying aspect, and it became hard even to look upon it.”

Word by Word

निवृत्तceased, discontinued

पितृ-कार्यंancestral rite/duty (rite for the fathers)

चand

निर्वषट्कारम्the vaṣaṭ-call (ritual exclamation) (being absent)

अज्लम्unclear (corrupt/uncertain word in the given text)

जगत्the world

प्रतिभय-आकारम्having a terrifying appearance

दुष्प्रेक्षम्hard to look at

अभवत्became/was

तदाthen, at that time

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nārada

Pitṛs (ancestors)

vaṣaṭkāra (Vedic exclamation)

śrāddha (implied by pitṛkārya)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

When dharma expressed through essential rites—especially obligations to the ancestors and Vedic sacrificial order—collapses, society loses auspiciousness and the world is experienced as fearful and unstable. The verse links ethical-ritual neglect with a broader sense of cosmic and social disorder.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada describes a time of decline: ancestral rites (śrāddha/pitṛkārya) are no longer performed, the Vedic vaṣaṭ-call is absent, auspicious practices vanish, and the world appears terrifying—so dreadful that it is difficult to behold.