Shloka 36

Adhyāya 283: Varṇa-vṛtti, Nyāya-ārjana, and the Decline-and-Restoration of Dharma (वर्णवृत्तिः न्यायार्जनं च)

Devanagari script

ते निपेतुस्ततस्तूर्ण दक्षयज्ञविहिंसया । भीमरूपा महाकाया: शतशो5थ सहसत्रश:

Transliteration

te nipetustatas tūrṇaṁ dakṣayajñavihiṁsayā | bhīmarūpā mahākāyāḥ śataśo 'tha sahasraśaḥ ||

Translation

ແລ້ວໃນຂະນະທີ່ຍັດຍະຂອງທັກສະກຳລັງຖືກລົບກວນຢ່າງຮຸນແຮງ ພວກເຂົາກໍຕົກລົງມາທັນທີ—ຮູບຮ່າງນ່າຢ້ານ ກາຍໃຫຍ່ມະຫາສານ—ຕົກມາເປັນຮ້ອຍໆ ແລ້ວຕໍ່ມາເປັນພັນໆ. ພາບນີ້ຊີ້ວ່າ ລະບຽບພິທີບູຊາ ເມື່ອຖືກຂັບເຄື່ອນດ້ວຍຄວາມຈອງຫອງ ຫຼືຖືກລະເມີດດ້ວຍຄວາມຮຸນແຮງ ອາດພັງທະລາຍກາຍເປັນຄວາມວຸ້ນວາຍ ແລະການທຳລາຍຢ່າງມະຫາສານ.

Word by Word

तेthey

निपेतुःfell down

ततःthen/from there

तूर्णम्quickly

दक्षयज्ञविहिंसयाby the destruction/violence at Daksha's sacrifice

भीमरूपाःof terrible form

महाकायाःhuge-bodied

शतशःby hundreds

अथand/then

सहस्रशःby thousands

Speaker

दक्ष उवाच

Characters & Entities

Dakṣa

Dakṣa’s yajña (sacrifice)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how violence and disruption—especially around sacred or socially binding institutions like yajña—can rapidly multiply into large-scale chaos. It implicitly warns that ritual without humility and ethical restraint becomes vulnerable to collapse and harm.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dakṣa describes a sudden mass descent/fall of terrifying, gigantic beings amid the violent disruption of Dakṣa’s sacrifice, emphasizing the scale and immediacy of the calamity—hundreds, then thousands.