Shloka 38

यादवक्षयः, बलराम-निर्याणम्, कृष्णस्य उपसंहारः (प्रभासे विनाशः)

Devanagari script

पिबतां तत्र वै तेषां संघर्षेण परस्परम् अतिवादेन्धनो जज्ञे कलहाग्निः क्षयावहः

Transliteration

pibatāṃ tatra vai teṣāṃ saṃgharṣeṇa parasparam ativādendhano jajñe kalahāgniḥ kṣayāvahaḥ

Translation

तेथे पान करताना परस्पर धक्काबुक्कीने, कटु अतिवचन इंधन होऊन कलहाची आग पेटली—आणि ती विनाशकारी ठरली।

Word by Word

पिबताम्(while) drinking

तत्रthere

वैindeed

तेषाम्of them

संघर्षेणby/through collision

परस्परम्mutually

अतिवादेन्धनःhaving excessive talk as fuel

जज्ञेarose

कलहाग्निःthe fire of strife

क्षयावहःbringing ruin

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)

Characters & Entities

Vrishnis/Andhakas (implied Yādava clans)

Kali-age moral decline (implicit)

FAQs

What is the significance of the 'fire of quarrel' (kalaha-agni) in the Vishnu Purana?

In this verse it symbolizes how inner vice—intoxication, ego, and harsh speech—ignites conflict that rapidly consumes even mighty clans, showing moral causality behind historical collapse.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the cause of destruction here?

Parāśara frames the ruin as arising from mutual friction and 'ativāda' (excessive, aggressive talk), which becomes the fuel for escalating violence—an ethical chain reaction rather than a random event.

What is Lord Vishnu’s theological importance in this context of downfall?

Even amid collapse, the Purana implies Vishnu’s supreme sovereignty over time and order: dynasties rise and fall under dharma’s law, while Vishnu remains the transcendent ground of reality guiding cosmic cycles.