Shloka 22
द्रोणेन दुर्योधनस्य कवचबन्धनम् — Drona’s Mantra-Bound Armor for Duryodhana
अलाबुपात्रे च तथा विष दुग्धा वसुंधरा । धृतराष्ट्रो5भवद् दोग्धा तेषां वत्सस्तु तक्षक:
alābupātre ca tathā viṣa-dugdhā vasuṃdharā | dhṛtarāṣṭro 'bhavad dogdhā teṣāṃ vatsas tu takṣakaḥ ||
Nārada said: “And in a gourd-vessel, the Earth yielded milk that was poison. Dhṛtarāṣṭra became the milker of that baleful ‘milk,’ and their calf was Takṣaka.” The image conveys a moral inversion: when the ruler’s agency is aligned with adharma, even what should nourish becomes toxic, and the forces that ‘draw it out’ are themselves destructive.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that governance and moral choice shape outcomes: when a ruler participates in unrighteousness, the very sources meant to sustain society become harmful—symbolized by the Earth producing ‘poison-milk’ and the destructive Takṣaka serving as the calf in the milking metaphor.
Nārada presents a symbolic tableau: the Earth is ‘milked’ into a gourd-vessel, but what comes forth is poison rather than nourishment. Dhṛtarāṣṭra is named as the milker, and Takṣaka as the calf—an allegorical condemnation of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s role in enabling ruinous forces.