Shloka 54
Puṣkara-Śapatha Itihāsa (Agastya–Indra Dispute at the Tīrthas) | पुष्कर-शपथ-आख्यानम्
सा कृत्या कालरात्रीव कृताञज्जलिरुपस्थिता । वृषादर्भि नरपतिं कि करोमीति चाब्रवीत्
sā kṛtyā kālarātrīvā kṛtāñjalir upasthitā | vṛṣādarbhi narapatiṁ ki karomīti cābravīt ||
सा कृत्या कालरात्रीव कृताञ्जलिरुपस्थिता । वृषादर्भिं नरपतिं किं करोमीति चाब्रवीत् ॥
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral weight of royal command: even a fearsome supernatural instrument approaches with folded hands and awaits instruction, implying that responsibility for the ensuing act rests primarily on the one who orders it. Power—mundane or occult—must be governed by dharma, because agency can become destructive when directed without ethical restraint.
A terrifying kṛtyā—likened to Kālarātrī—appears before the king in a posture of submission (hands joined) and asks what task it should perform. The scene sets up the king’s decision: the entity is ready to execute his will, making the next command pivotal for the story’s ethical and practical outcome.