Shloka 13
अग्निशाप-प्रसंगः
Agni’s Curse and the Restoration of Ritual Order
द्विजानामन्निहोत्रेषु यज्ञसत्रक्रियासु च । निरोंकारवषट्कारा: स्वधास्वाहाविवर्जिता:,उग्रश्रवाजी कहते हैं--महर्षियो! तदनन्तर अग्निदेवने कुछ सोच-विचारकर द्विजोंके अन्निहोत्र, यज्ञ, सत्र तथा संस्कारसम्बन्धी क्रियाओंमेंसे अपने-आपको समेट लिया। फिर तो अग्निके बिना समस्त प्रजा ३>कार, वषट्कार, स्वथा और स्वाहा आदिसे वंचित होकर अत्यन्त दुःखी हो गयी। तब महर्षिगण अत्यन्त उद्विग्न हो देवताओंके पास जाकर बोले --
dvijānām agnihotreṣu yajñasatrakriyāsu ca | nir oṁkāravaṣaṭkārāḥ svadhāsvāhāvivarjitāḥ ||
Śaunaka disse: “Nos agnihotra diários dos dvijas e nos ritos de sacrifícios e sessões sacrificiais, cessaram as fórmulas sagradas: já não havia a sílaba oṁ, nem o brado vaṣaṭ, e as invocações ‘svadhā’ e ‘svāhā’ estavam ausentes. Privado da presença de Agni no ritual, o povo caiu em profunda aflição.”
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ritual speech and fire-offering are presented as supports of dharma and social-cosmic order; when Agni (the ritual carrier) is absent, even correct formulas like Oṁ, vaṣaṭ, svadhā, and svāhā lose their efficacy, leading to collective distress—implying that duty requires both proper action and the sustaining divine principle.
Śaunaka describes a crisis in which Agni is no longer present in the sacrificial system: the twice-born cannot properly perform Agnihotra, yajñas, and satras, and the customary invocations (Oṁ, vaṣaṭ, svadhā, svāhā) are absent; as a result, the people suffer, prompting the sages to seek divine intervention (as the surrounding prose context indicates).