Shloka 13

Śaraṇāgata-Atithi-Dharma in the Kapota Narrative (कपोत-आख्यानम्—शरणागतधर्मः)

Devanagari script

त्रेताद्वापरयो: संधौ तदा दैवविधिक्रमात्‌ । अनावृष्टिरभूद्‌ घोरा लोके द्वादशवार्षिकी,त्रेता और द्वापरके संधिकी बात है, दैववश संसारमें बारह वर्षोतक भयंकर अनावृष्टि हो गयी (वर्षा हुई ही नहीं)

Transliteration

tretādvāparayoḥ sandhau tadā daivavidhikramāt | anāvṛṣṭir abhūd ghorā loke dvādaśavārṣikī ||

Translation

त्रेताद्वापरयोः संधौ तदा दैवविधिक्रमात् । अनावृष्टिरभूद् घोरा लोके द्वादशवार्षिकी ॥

Word by Word

त्रेता-द्वापरयोःof (the yugas) Tretā and Dvāpara

सन्धौat the junction/transition

तदाthen

दैव-विधि-क्रमात्due to the course/order of divine ordinance

अनावृष्टिःdrought; absence of rain

अभूत्arose/occurred/was

घोराterrible

लोकेin the world

द्वादश-वार्षिकीlasting twelve years

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Tretā Yuga

Dvāpara Yuga

loka (the world)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents calamity (drought) as arising within a larger moral-cosmic order, especially at transitional times. It implies that dharma must be upheld even when suffering seems fated—prompting ethical governance, relief, restraint, and communal solidarity during scarcity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma describes a historical/cosmic moment: at the transition between the Tretā and Dvāpara yugas, a severe rainless period afflicted the world for twelve years, setting the stage for discussions on duty, governance, and conduct under crisis.