Shloka 13
Mahāvasu’s Fall by Speech-Error and Release through Devotion (अज-विवादः वसोः शापः विमोचनं च)
अन्तरिक्षाच्च कौरव्य दण्ड: कृष्णाजिनं च ह
antarikṣācca kauravya daṇḍaḥ kṛṣṇājinaṃ ca ha
भीष्म उवाच—कौरव्य, अन्तरिक्षात् दण्डः कृष्णाजिनं च ह प्रादुरभवत्।
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights ascetic emblems—daṇḍa and kṛṣṇājina—as outward signs of inner discipline. In the Shānti Parva’s ethical frame, it suggests that true dharma is supported by self-restraint, simplicity, and vowed conduct, which legitimize teaching and leadership.
Bhīṣma narrates a moment where, from the sky, a staff and a black antelope-skin appear. Such a miraculous appearance typically signals divine approval or the formal bestowal of ascetic status, introducing or validating a figure’s tapas and authority in the ongoing discourse on dharma.