Shloka 38
उत्पातदर्शनम् — Portents and Kāla among the Vṛṣṇis
Devanagari script
यस्तेषामेरकां कश्चिज्जग्राह कुपितो नूप
Transliteration
yas teṣām erakāṁ kaścid jagrāha kupito nūpa
Translation
वैशम्पायन उवाच—अथ तेषां मध्ये कश्चित् कुपितोऽभवत्; स तेषामेरकां जग्राह—अल्पमिव दृश्यते, स तु पापस्य प्रवृत्तेः संयमनिवृत्तेश्च कारणं बभूव।
Word by Word
यःwho
यः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootयद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुं, प्रथमा, एकवचन
तेषाम्of them
तेषाम्:
Adhikarana
TypeNoun
Rootतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुं/नपुं, षष्ठी, बहुवचन
एरकाम्an eraka-reed (club-like reed)
एरकाम्:
Karma
TypeNoun
Rootएरका (प्रातिपदिक)
Formस्त्री, द्वितीया, एकवचन
कश्चित्someone
कश्चित्:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootकिम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुं, प्रथमा, एकवचन
जग्राहtook / seized
जग्राह:
TypeVerb
Rootग्रह् (धातु)
Formलिट् (परोक्षभूत/परफेक्ट), प्रथम, एकवचन
कुपितःangry
कुपितः:
TypeAdjective
Rootकुपित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; कुप् + क्त)
Formपुं, प्रथमा, एकवचन
नूपO Nūpa (vocative; name/epithet)
नूप:
TypeNoun
Rootनूप (प्रातिपदिक/सम्बोधन-रूप)
Formपुं, सम्बोधन, एकवचन
Speaker
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Characters & Entities
V
VaiśampāyanaE
eraka (reed)Character Dynamics
Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)
War Context
Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)
Philosophical Teaching
Political Layer
Geographic Context
Sandhi Notes
Educational Q&A
Unchecked anger and impulsive grasping for a weapon—even something as ordinary as a reed—can trigger escalating harm; restraint (dama) is the ethical safeguard against collective ruin.
In the Mausala Parva’s account of the Yādavas’ end, a person, provoked and angry, picks up an eraka reed, foreshadowing the outbreak of violence that will spread through the group.