Shloka 16

Adhyaya 9 — Vasiṣṭha and Viśvāmitra’s Mutual Curse: The Āḍi–Baka Battle and Brahmā’s Pacification

Sanskrit

तयोः पक्षानिलापास्ताः प्रपेतुर्गिरयो भुवि ।

गिरिप्रपाताभिहता चकम्पे च वसुन्धरा ॥

Transliteration

tayoḥ pakṣānila-āpāstāḥ prapetur girayo bhuvi /

giri-prapāta-abhihatā cakampe ca vasundharā

Translation

Impulsionadas pelas rajadas de suas asas, as montanhas tombaram sobre a terra; e a Terra, atingida pelo estrondo do desabamento das montanhas, começou a tremer.

Word by Word

• तयोः: of those two
• तयोः: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Dual (द्विवचन) सर्वनाम

• पक्ष-अनिल-अपास्ताः: driven away by the wind from (their) wings
• पक्ष-अनिल-अपास्ताः: Visheshana (विशेषण) of गिरयः
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पक्ष (प्रातिपदिक) + अनिल (प्रातिपदिक) + अपास्त (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural; past passive participle (क्त) of √अस्/अप-स्था? here अपास्त = 'driven away/removed' (अप + √अस्/√स्था in sense 'to cast off'); समासः तत्पुरुषः (पक्षानिलेन अपास्ताः)

• प्रपेतुः: fell down
• प्रपेतुः: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-पत् (धातु)
• Form: Perfect (लिट्), Parasmaipada, 3rd person, Plural; √पत् (गतौ/पतन) with उपसर्ग प्र-

• गिरयः: mountains
• गिरयः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गिरि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन)

• भुवि: on the earth/ground
• भुवि: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भू (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular (एकवचन)

• गिरि-प्रपात-अभिहता: struck by the falling mountains
• गिरि-प्रपात-अभिहता: Visheshana (विशेषण) of वसुन्धरा
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गिरि (प्रातिपदिक) + प्रपात (प्रातिपदिक) + अभिहत (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular; past passive participle (क्त) of √हन् with उपसर्ग अभि-; तत्पुरुषः (गिरिप्रपातैः अभिहता)

• चकम्पे: trembled
• चकम्पे: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कम्प् (धातु)
• Form: Perfect (लिट्), Ātmanepada, 3rd person, Singular; √कम्प् (चलने)

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction (समुच्चय)

• वसुन्धरा: the earth
• वसुन्धरा: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वसुन्धरा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular (प्रथमा एकवचन)

Speakers

• Narrative voice within the Devi Mahatmyam (frame-speaker not explicit in this verse)

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "adbhuta", "secondaryRasa": "bhayanaka", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Key Themes

• Earthquake imagery
• Cosmic disturbance
• Mythic natural catastrophe

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Power without dharma becomes a natural calamity. The verse frames moral disorder as ecological disorder—when titanic beings clash, the stability of the world (vasundharā) is endangered.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

It is mythic narration (ākhyāna) rather than cosmological sarga; however, it borrows cosmological language (earth, mountains) to convey the scale of adharma-driven conflict.

What is the esoteric significance?

Mountains often symbolize fixed convictions or karmic ‘heaviness’; the ‘wing-wind’ suggests restless prāṇa. Agitated prāṇa topples what is ‘fixed,’ producing inner and outer trembling.