Shloka 10
Draupadī’s Instruction on Marital Conduct and Household Discipline (चित्तग्रहण-उपदेश)
प्रेष्य चाग्निरथर्वाणमन्यं देशं ततो5गमत् । मत्स्यास्तस्य समाचख्यु: क्रुद्धस्तानग्निरब्रवीत् भक्ष्या वै विविधैभविर्भविष्यथ शरीरिणाम्
preṣya cāgnir atharvāṇam anyaṃ deśaṃ tato 'gamat | matsyās tasya samācakhyuḥ kruddhas tān agnir abravīt bhakṣyā vai vividhair bhavir bhaviṣyatha śarīriṇām ||
Having dispatched Atharvan, Agni then departed for another region. The fishes reported this to him; and Agni, angered at them, declared: “Truly, you shall become food for embodied beings, offered in many kinds of sacrificial oblations.” The episode frames a moral warning about the consequences of provoking a powerful force and the inescapable order by which creatures become sustenance within the world’s sacrificial economy.
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Actions that provoke or betray powerful forces invite consequences; the verse also reflects the sacrificial worldview in which beings circulate as nourishment and offerings within a larger cosmic order.
Agni sends Atharvan away and leaves for another place. The fishes inform Agni of this, and Agni—angered—pronounces that they will become food for embodied beings, linked to the idea of being consumed and offered through various oblations.