Shloka 22
Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 180 — Svayaṃvara-Virodha and Pāṇḍava Parākrama
Draupadī Episode
महद्धयशिरो भूत्वा यत् तद् वेदविदो विदुः । तमग्निमुद्गिरद् वक्त्रात् पिबत्यापो महोदधौ
vasiṣṭha uvāca | mahad dhayaśiro bhūtvā yat tad vedavido viduḥ | tam agnim udgirad vaktrāt pibaty āpo mahodadhau | sarvarākṣasasatrāya sambhṛtaṃ pāvakaṃ tadā | uttare himavatpārśve utsasarja mahāvane |
ヴァシシュタは言った。「ヴェーダを知る者たちが識別するその存在は、偉大なる『牝馬の頭』の姿となった。その口からは絶えずその火を吐き出し、大海の水を飲み続けている。ついで、あらゆるラークシャサを滅ぼすための祭儀に備えて集められていた火は、ヒマラヤ近く北方の広大な森へと放たれた。」
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Immense destructive energy—especially anger—must be restrained and placed where it cannot harm the innocent; even when destruction is ritually or morally motivated, it should be contained so that cosmic order (dharma) is preserved.
Vasiṣṭha describes a mare-headed manifestation associated with a terrible fire that continually drinks the ocean’s waters while emitting flame; he then notes that a fire gathered for a long sacrificial rite aimed at destroying rākṣasas was released in a great northern forest near the Himalaya.