Shloka 54

Adhyāya 283: Varṇa-vṛtti, Nyāya-ārjana, and the Decline-and-Restoration of Dharma (वर्णवृत्तिः न्यायार्जनं च)

Devanagari script

भद्रकालीति विख्याता देव्या: कोपाद्‌ विनि:सृता । प्रेषितो देवदेवेन यज्ञान्तिकमिहागतौ

Transliteration

bhadrakālīti vikhyātā devyāḥ kopād viniḥsṛtā | preṣito devadevena yajñāntikam ihāgatau |

Translation

“இவள் ‘பத்ரகாளி’ எனப் புகழ்பெற்றவள்; தேவியின் கோபத்திலிருந்து வெளிப்பட்டவள். தேவர்களின் தேவனால் அனுப்பப்பட்ட நாம் இருவரும் இந்த யாகத்தின் அருகே இங்கு வந்தோம்।”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'bhadrakālī', 'definition': 'Bhadrakālī

• a fierce, auspicious form of the Goddess manifested in wrath'}, {'term': 'iti', 'definition': 'thus

• indicating a name or quotation (“called…”)'}, {'term': 'vikhyātā', 'definition': 'well-known

• renowned'}, {'term': 'devyāḥ', 'definition': 'of the Goddess (genitive singular)'}, {'term': 'kopāt', 'definition': 'from wrath/anger (ablative singular)'}, {'term': 'viniḥsṛtā', 'definition': 'issued forth

• manifested'}, {'term': 'preṣitaḥ', 'definition': 'sent

• dispatched'}, {'term': 'devadevena', 'definition': 'by the God of gods (instrumental singular)'}, {'term': 'yajña-antikam', 'definition': 'near the sacrifice

• to the sacrificial ground'}, {'term': 'iha', 'definition': 'here'}, {'term': 'āgatau', 'definition': 'we two have come/arrived (dual)'}]

Speaker

वीरभद्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhadrakālī
• Devī (the Goddess)
• Devadeva (God of gods; epithet of Śiva/Mahādeva)
• Yajña (sacrifice; sacrificial ground)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames divine power as responsive to moral and ritual disorder: wrath-born manifestations (like Bhadrakālī) arise to restore balance, and even a yajña is not automatically righteous unless aligned with dharma and reverence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vīrabhadra identifies Bhadrakālī as a wrath-manifested form of the Goddess and states that the God of gods (Śiva/Mahādeva) has dispatched them; therefore, they have arrived at the sacrificial ground, signaling divine intervention at the yajña.