Shloka 24
अध्याय ५७ — राजोपरिचरवसोः धर्मोपदेशः, सत्यवत्याः उत्पत्तिः, व्यासजन्म च
Adhyāya 57: Indra’s Counsel to King Vasu; Origin of Satyavatī; Birth of Vyāsa
दग्धास्तत्र महासत्रे ब्रह्मदण्डनिपीडिता:,उनकी लम्बाई-चौड़ाई एक-एक, दो-दो योजनतककी थी। वे इच्छानुसार रूप धारण करनेवाले तथा इच्छानुरूप बल-पराक्रमसे सम्पन्न थे। वे सब-के-सब धधकती हुई आगके समान भयंकर विषसे भरे थे। माताके शापरूपी ब्रह्मदण्डसे पीड़ित होनेके कारण वे उस महासत्रमें जलकर भस्म हो गये
dagdhās tatra mahāsatre brahmadaṇḍanipīḍitāḥ
Śaunaka disse: “Ali, naquela grande sessão sacrificial, foram queimados e reduzidos a cinzas—esmagados sob a ‘vara do brâmane’, a força inexorável de uma maldição bramânica. Dominados por esse freio nascido da maldição, pereceram no próprio rito destinado a sustentar a ordem cósmica, mostrando que até os poderosos caem quando o adharma amadurece em consequência inevitável.”
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sacred power (brahmadaṇḍa) represents moral and ritual law taking effect: when wrongdoing matures into consequence, even formidable beings cannot resist. The verse underscores accountability and the inevitability of karmic fruition within the framework of dharma.
Śaunaka describes beings being burned in a great sacrificial rite (mahāsatra), their destruction attributed to being ‘crushed’ by the brahmadaṇḍa—i.e., the force of a brahminical curse or sacred sanction operating through the ritual setting.