Shloka 23
अग्निशाप-प्रसंगः
Agni’s Curse and the Restoration of Ritual Order
क्रव्यादा च तनुर्या ते सा सर्व भक्षयिष्यति । यथा सूर्याशुभि: स्मृष्टं सर्व शुचि विभाव्यते,“इसके सिवा जो तुम्हारी क्रव्याद मूर्ति है (कच्चा मांस या मुर्दा जलानेवाली जो चिताकी आग है) वही सब कुछ भक्षण करेगी। जैसे सूर्यकी किरणोंसे स्पर्श होनेपर सब वस्तुएँ शुद्ध मानी जाती हैं, उसी प्रकार तुम्हारी ज्वालाओंसे दग्ध होनेपर सब कुछ शुद्ध हो जायगा। अग्निदेव! तुम अपने प्रभावसे ही प्रकट हुए उत्कृष्ट तेज हो; अतः विभो! अपने तेजसे ही महर्षिके उस शापको सत्य कर दिखाओ और अपने मुखमें आहुतिके रूपमें पड़े हुए देवताओंके तथा अपने भागको भी ग्रहण करो”
kravyādā ca tanur yā te sā sarvaṁ bhakṣayiṣyati | yathā sūryāśubhiḥ spṛṣṭaṁ sarvaṁ śuci vibhāvyate ||
Disse Śaunaka: “Essa tua forma, o fogo devorador de carne, consumirá todas as coisas. Assim como tudo é tido por purificado ao ser tocado pelos raios do sol, do mesmo modo tudo o que for queimado por tuas chamas será considerado purificado. Portanto, ó Agni—manifesto como suprema radiância por teu próprio poder—faz com que a maldição do vidente se cumpra por teu esplendor, e recebe em tua boca, como oblações, tanto os deuses que ali caíram quanto a tua parte devida.”
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames fire as a purifier within dharmic ritual logic: what Agni consumes is not merely destroyed but transformed and rendered fit—like objects deemed pure by contact with the sun’s rays. It also emphasizes that divine power should uphold the truth of a sage’s word (a curse), preserving cosmic and moral order.
Śaunaka addresses Agni, invoking Agni’s ‘kravyāda’ (all-consuming) form and comparing its purifying effect to the sun’s rays. He urges Agni to actualize a mahārṣi’s curse through his own radiance and to accept, as oblations, the gods and his own due portion that have come into his mouth—placing the event in a sacrificial/ritual framework.