Shloka 23
Draupadī’s Rebuke of Jayadratha and Dhaumya’s Admonition (Āraṇyaka-parva, Adhyāya 252)
आह्वानाय तदा चक्कु: कर्म वैतानसम्भवम् । बृहस्पत्युशनोक्तैश्न मन्त्रैर्मन्त्रविशारदा:
āhvānāya tadā cakkuḥ karma vaitānasambhavam | bṛhaspatyuśanoktaiś ca mantrair mantraviśāradāḥ ||
വൈശമ്പായനൻ പറഞ്ഞു—അപ്പോൾ അവനെ ആഹ്വാനിക്കുവാൻ, മന്ത്രവിശാരദരായ അവർ ബൃഹസ്പതിയും ഉശനസും (ശുക്രാചാര്യൻ) ഉപദേശിച്ച മന്ത്രങ്ങളാൽ വൈതാനകർമ്മം അനുഷ്ഠിച്ചു.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that ritual knowledge and mantra-power are ethically neutral tools: their moral value depends on intention. Here, learned rites are driven by factional fear and self-preservation, illustrating how spiritual techniques can be pressed into service of adharma when motivated by expediency rather than righteousness.
The mantra-experts (in the broader episode, Daityas/Dānavas) perform an Atharvavedic/Vaitāna ritual using mantras attributed to Bṛhaspati and Uśanas in order to summon the intended person (contextually, Duryodhana) to their presence.