Shloka 17

गङ्गाधारणम् (Gaṅgādhāraṇa) — Śiva Bears the Descent of Gaṅgā

Devanagari script

अन्वेषमाणास्तुरगं नीता वैवस्वतक्षयम्‌ । षष्टिस्तानि सहस्राणि सागराणां महात्मनाम्‌

Transliteration

anveṣamāṇās turagaṃ nītā vaivasvatakṣayam | ṣaṣṭis tāni sahasrāṇi sāgarāṇāṃ mahātmanām ||

Translation

अश्वाचा शोध घेत असताना सगराचे ते महात्मा पुत्र—साठ हजार—वैवस्वत (यम) यांच्या लोकास नेले गेले, म्हणजेच मृत्यूस प्राप्त झाले।

Word by Word

अन्वेषमाणाःseeking, searching

तुरगम्the horse

नीताःwere led, were taken

वैवस्वतक्षयम्to the abode of Yama (death)

षष्टिःsixty

तानिthose

सहस्राणिthousands

सागराणाम्of the oceans

महात्मनाम्of the great-souled (sages)

Speaker

लोगश उवाच

Characters & Entities

Turaga (horse)

Vaivasvata (Yama)

Sagara (king; implied through sāgarāṇām)

Sagara’s sixty thousand sons (Sāgarāḥ)

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?

Even a legitimate mission can become destructive when driven by uncontrolled aggression; dharma requires restraint and discernment, otherwise one is ‘led to Yama’—to ruin—by one’s own actions.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the account of King Sagara’s lineage, his sons, in pursuit of a horse, continue their search with forceful determination and ultimately meet death—described as being taken to Vaivasvata’s abode (Yama’s realm).