Shloka 2

Devanagari script

त्वक्त्वा महीत्वं भूमिस्तु स्पर्थयाड्रनूपस्य ह | नाशं जगाम तां विप्रो व्यस्तम्भयत कश्यप:,एक समयकी बात है, राजा अंगके साथ स्पर्धा (लाग-डाट) होनेके कारण पृथ्वीकी अधिष्ठात्री देवी अपने लोक-धर्म धारणरूप शक्तिका परित्याग करके अदृश्य हो गयीं। उस समय विप्रवर कश्यपने अपने तपोबलसे इस स्थूल पृथ्वीको थाम रखा था

Transliteration

tvaktvā mahītvaṁ bhūmis tu spardhayā dranūpasya ha | nāśaṁ jagāma tāṁ vipro vyastambhayat kaśyapaḥ ||

Translation

Arjuna berkata: “Pada suatu ketika, kerana persaingan dengan Raja Aṅga, Bumi—dewi yang memerintahnya—meninggalkan daya penopang yang menegakkan tertib dunia lalu menjadi tidak kelihatan, seolah-olah menuju kebinasaan. Pada waktu itu, resi Kaśyapa yang mulia, dengan kekuatan tapa, menyokong dan menahan bumi yang berat ini.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'tvaktvā', 'definition': 'having abandoned, having cast off'}, {'term': 'mahītvaṁ', 'definition': 'the state/office of being Earth (earthhood

• the Earth’s sustaining status)'}, {'term': 'bhūmiḥ', 'definition': 'Earth

• the earth-goddess/presiding deity of the Earth'}, {'term': 'spardhayā', 'definition': 'due to rivalry, competition, contention'}, {'term': 'aṅgasya (dranūpasya)', 'definition': 'of (King) Aṅga

• of the king (nṛpa) (textual reading uncertain in the given line)'}, {'term': 'nāśaṁ jagāma', 'definition': 'went to destruction/ruin

• perished (idiomatically: disappeared, became as if lost)'}, {'term': 'vīpraḥ / vipraḥ', 'definition': 'a brahmin

• a sage'}, {'term': 'vyastambhayat', 'definition': 'supported, held up, propped up, stabilized'}, {'term': 'kaśyapaḥ', 'definition': 'Kaśyapa (a great ṛṣi)'}, {'term': 'tapas (implied by context)', 'definition': 'austerity

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Arjuna
• Bhūmi (Earth-goddess / presiding deity of Earth)
• King Aṅga
• Ṛṣi Kaśyapa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

When worldly order is shaken—here symbolized by the Earth withdrawing her sustaining power—dharma can be preserved by those who possess inner discipline and spiritual strength. The verse highlights the ethical idea that stability of society and cosmos depends not only on rulers but also on the restraint and merit (tapas) of sages who uphold order when governance falters.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna recounts an old episode: due to a conflict involving King Aṅga, the Earth’s presiding goddess becomes invisible, as if the world-supporting function has been abandoned. In that crisis, the sage Kaśyapa uses his ascetic power to hold and stabilize the Earth, preventing collapse.