Shloka 14
Nakula’s Declaration and the Uñchavṛtti Brāhmaṇa’s Superior Merit (Āśvamedhika Parva, Adhyāya 92)
सत्र चेद॑ महद् विप्रा मुनेर्द्धादिशवार्षिकम् । न वर्षिष्यति देवश्न वर्षाण्येतानि द्वादश,“ब्राह्मणो! मुनिका यह महान् सत्र बारह वर्षोतक चालू रहनेवाला है; परंतु इन्द्रदेव इन बारह वर्षोमें वर्षा नहीं करेंगे
satraṁ ced idaṁ mahad viprā muner dvādaśavārṣikam | na varṣiṣyati deveśa varṣāṇy etāni dvādaśa ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O brāhmaṇas, if this great sacrificial session of the sage is to continue for twelve years, then the lord of the gods will not send rain during these very twelve years.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between human ritual power and divine control of natural order: prolonged sacrificial undertakings can provoke divine resistance, reminding readers that dharma involves balancing ritual ambition with the welfare of the world (rain, sustenance).
Vaiśampāyana reports that a great twelve-year satra is underway (or proposed) by a sage, and that the lord of the gods—understood as Indra—will withhold rain for the entire twelve-year period, foreshadowing hardship and conflict around the sacrifice.