Shloka 23
द्रोणेन दुर्योधनस्य कवचबन्धनम् — Drona’s Mantra-Bound Armor for Duryodhana
सर्पोने तुम्बीके बर्तनमें पृथ्वीसे विषका दोहन किया। उनकी ओरसे दुहनेवाला धृतराष्टर और बछड़ा तक्षक था ।। सप्तर्षिभिव्रह्य दुग्धा तथा चाक्लिष्टकर्मभि: । दोग्धा बृहस्पति: पात्र छन््दो वत्सश्न॒ सोमराट्,अक्लिष्टकर्मा सप्तर्षियोंने ब्रह्म (वेद एवं तप)-का दोहन किया। उनके दोग्धा बृहस्पति, पात्र छन्दर और बछड़ा राजा सोम थे
sarpone tumbīke bhartane pṛthivyā viṣasya dohanaṃ kṛtam | teṣāṃ dūhane dhṛtarāṣṭro dogdhā takṣako vatsaḥ || saptarṣibhir brahma dugdhaṃ tathā cākliṣṭakarmabhiḥ | dogdhā bṛhaspatiḥ pātraṃ chando vatsaḥ somarāṭ ||
Nārada said: “The serpents once ‘milked’ poison from the earth, using a gourd-vessel as the container; in that act Dhṛtarāṣṭra served as the milker and Takṣaka was the calf. Likewise, the Seven Ṛṣis—men of unwearied austerity—‘milked’ Brahman, that is, Vedic wisdom and the power of tapas: Bṛhaspati was their milker, the Vedic metres were the vessel, and King Soma was the calf.” In ethical terms, the verse contrasts how the same disciplined act of ‘extraction’ can yield either destructive potency (poison) or sustaining sacred knowledge (Veda and tapas), depending on the agents and the aim.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that disciplined ‘extraction’ of power or knowledge is ethically determined by intention and guidance: the same metaphorical act of milking can yield poison (harm) or Brahman as Vedic wisdom and tapas (benefit). It highlights responsibility in how potency—whether venomous or sacred—is drawn forth and used.
Nārada recounts two mythic ‘milkings’: first, the Nāgas draw poison from the earth using a gourd-vessel, with the Nāga Dhṛtarāṣṭra as milker and Takṣaka as calf; second, the Seven Ṛṣis draw forth Brahman (Veda and tapas), with Bṛhaspati as milker, the metres (chandas) as the vessel, and King Soma as the calf.