Shloka 49
अपां च पतये नित्यं देवानां पतये नमः । पूष्णो दन्तविनाशाय त्र्यक्षाय वरदाय च
apāṃ ca pataye nityaṃ devānāṃ pataye namaḥ | pūṣṇo dantavināśāya tryakṣāya varadāya ca
Vyāsa said: “Ever do I bow to the Lord of the Waters, and to the Lord of the gods. I also bow to Pūṣan, the one who caused the breaking of teeth, and to the Three-eyed Lord, the bestower of boons.” In the midst of grave events, the narration turns to reverent invocation—remembering divine powers that govern cosmic order, chastise wrongdoing, and grant protection—framing the unfolding war within a moral universe overseen by higher law.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse models dhārmic orientation through remembrance and salutation to divine powers: the cosmic rulers who sustain order (lords of waters and gods), who restrain excess through chastisement (Pūṣan linked with ‘tooth-breaking’), and who grant grace and protection (the three-eyed boon-giver). It suggests that even amid violence, one should anchor action and understanding in reverence for higher moral governance.
The speaker Vyāsa inserts an invocation—saluting multiple deities and epithets—before or amid the account of intense events in the Drona Parva. Such invocatory lines function as a solemn framing device, seeking auspiciousness and emphasizing that the war’s outcomes unfold under divine oversight.