Shloka 26

अध्याय १: उत्पात-दर्शनम् तथा वृष्णि-विनाश-श्रवणम्

Omens Observed and the Hearing of the Vṛṣṇi Destruction

Devanagari script

येन वृष्ण्यन्धककुले पुरुषा भस्मसात्‌ कृता: । वृष्ण्यन्धकविनाशाय किंकरप्रतिमं महत्‌,वह वही मूसल था जिसने वृष्णि और अन्धककुलके समस्त पुरुषोंको भस्मसात्‌ कर दिया। वृष्णि और अन्धक वंशके वीरोंका विनाश करनेके लिये वह महान्‌ यमदूतके ही तुल्य था

Transliteration

yena vṛṣṇyandhakakule puruṣā bhasmasāt kṛtāḥ | vṛṣṇyandhakavināśāya kiṅkarapratimaṃ mahat |

Translation

వృష్ణి, అంధక కులాల పురుషులందరినీ భస్మం చేసినది అదే ముసలం. వృష్ణి-అంధకుల వినాశార్థం అది మహత్తరమైనది—యమదూతకు సమానమైనదిగా నిలిచింది.

Word by Word

येनby whom/whereby

वृष्णि-अन्धक-कुलेin the Vrishni-Andhaka clan

पुरुषाःmen, warriors

भस्मसात्to ashes, utterly destroyed

कृताःwere made, were rendered

वृष्णि-अन्धक-विनाशायfor the destruction of the Vrishnis and Andhakas

किंकर-प्रतिमम्like a servant/messenger (of Yama)

महत्great, mighty

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Vṛṣṇi clan

Andhaka clan

mūsala (iron club)

Yama

kiṅkara (Yama’s attendant/messenger)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames the clan’s annihilation as more than a brawl: the mūsala functions like Yama’s agent, suggesting that when collective conduct degenerates, destruction can manifest as an impersonal, karmic inevitability rather than a merely personal victory or defeat.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana identifies the mūsala (club) as the instrument that reduced the Vṛṣṇi-Andhaka men to ashes, emphasizing its fearsome, death-dealing role—‘like Yama’s messenger’—in bringing about the collapse of the clan.