Shloka 54

Adhyāya 283: Varṇa-vṛtti, Nyāya-ārjana, and the Decline-and-Restoration of Dharma (वर्णवृत्तिः न्यायार्जनं च)

Devanagari script

भद्रकालीति विख्याता देव्या: कोपाद्‌ विनि:सृता । प्रेषितो देवदेवेन यज्ञान्तिकमिहागतौ,मेरा नाम वीरभद्र है। रुद्रदेवके क्रोधसे मेरा प्राकटय हुआ है। यह नारी भद्रकालीके नामसे विख्यात है और देवी पार्वतीके कोपसे प्रकट हुई है। देवाधिदेव महादेवने हम दोनोंको यहाँ भेजा है। इसलिये हम दोनों इस यज्ञके निकट आये हैं

Transliteration

bhadrakālīti vikhyātā devyāḥ kopād viniḥsṛtā | preṣito devadevena yajñāntikam ihāgatau |

Translation

«Ela é conhecida como Bhadrakālī, surgida da ira da Deusa. Enviados pelo Deus dos deuses, nós dois viemos até as imediações deste sacrifício.»

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'bhadrakālī', 'definition': 'Bhadrakālī

• a fierce, auspicious form of the Goddess manifested in wrath'}, {'term': 'iti', 'definition': 'thus

• indicating a name or quotation (“called…”)'}, {'term': 'vikhyātā', 'definition': 'well-known

• renowned'}, {'term': 'devyāḥ', 'definition': 'of the Goddess (genitive singular)'}, {'term': 'kopāt', 'definition': 'from wrath/anger (ablative singular)'}, {'term': 'viniḥsṛtā', 'definition': 'issued forth

• manifested'}, {'term': 'preṣitaḥ', 'definition': 'sent

• dispatched'}, {'term': 'devadevena', 'definition': 'by the God of gods (instrumental singular)'}, {'term': 'yajña-antikam', 'definition': 'near the sacrifice

• to the sacrificial ground'}, {'term': 'iha', 'definition': 'here'}, {'term': 'āgatau', 'definition': 'we two have come/arrived (dual)'}]

Speaker

वीरभद्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhadrakālī
• Devī (the Goddess)
• Devadeva (God of gods; epithet of Śiva/Mahādeva)
• Yajña (sacrifice; sacrificial ground)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames divine power as responsive to moral and ritual disorder: wrath-born manifestations (like Bhadrakālī) arise to restore balance, and even a yajña is not automatically righteous unless aligned with dharma and reverence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vīrabhadra identifies Bhadrakālī as a wrath-manifested form of the Goddess and states that the God of gods (Śiva/Mahādeva) has dispatched them; therefore, they have arrived at the sacrificial ground, signaling divine intervention at the yajña.