Shloka 8
Marutta’s Sacrifice and Agni’s Embassy (मरुत्त-यज्ञे दूतत्वम्)
इन्द्र उवाच एहि गच्छ प्रहितो जातवेदो बृहस्पतिं परिदातुं मरुत्ते । अयं वै त्वां याजयिता बृहस्पति- स्तथामरं चैव करिष्यतीति,तब इन्द्रने अग्निदेवसे कहा--जातवेदा! इधर आओ और मेरा संदेश लेकर मरुत्तके पास जाओ। मरुत्तकी सम्मति लेकर बृहस्पतिजीको उनके पास पहुँचा देना। वहाँ जाकर राजासे कहना कि “ये बृहस्पतिजी ही आपका यज्ञ करायेंगे तथा ये आपको अमर भी कर देंगे!
indra uvāca: ehi gaccha prahito jātavedo bṛhaspatiṃ paridātuṃ marutte | ayaṃ vai tvāṃ yājayitā bṛhaspatis tathāmaraṃ caiva kariṣyatīti ||
Indra said: “Come, Jātavedas (Agni). Go forth, dispatched by me, to deliver Bṛhaspati to Marutta. Tell the king there: ‘This very Bṛhaspati will serve as your officiating priest and will conduct your sacrifice; and by that rite he will make you deathless (i.e., grant imperishable fame and heavenly attainment).’”
इन्द्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ritual action (yajña) should be guided by rightful spiritual authority: Indra directs that Bṛhaspati, the proper preceptor, conduct Marutta’s sacrifice. The promise of ‘immortality’ points to the ethical idea that correctly performed sacred duty yields enduring spiritual merit and undying fame, not merely worldly gain.
Indra commissions Agni (Jātavedas) as a messenger to go to King Marutta and bring Bṛhaspati to him. Agni is to tell Marutta that Bṛhaspati himself will officiate the king’s yajña and, through that sacrificial undertaking, will grant him ‘amaratva’—lasting renown and heavenly attainment.