Shloka 41

Adhyaya 4 — Jaimini Meets the Dharmapakshis: Four Doubts on the Mahabharata and the Opening of Narayana Doctrine

Sanskrit

प्रणिपत्य तथेशानमेकबाणविनिर्जितैः ।

यस्यासुरगणैर्यज्ञा विलुप्यन्ते न यज्विनाम् ॥

Transliteration

praṇipatya tatheśānam ekabāṇavinirjitaiḥ /

yasyāsuragaṇair yajñā vilupyante na yajvinām //

Translation

ఆ ప్రభువు ఈశానునకు నమస్కరించి, ఒక్క బాణముచేతనే పరాజితులై వారు ఇలా పలికారు—యజమానుల యజ్ఞములను అతని అసురగణములు దోచి నాశనం చేస్తారు।

Word by Word

• praṇipatya: having prostrated
• praṇipatya: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: pra-√nipat (धातु)
• Form: Absolutive/Gerund (ल्यप्), indeclinable; ‘having bowed down’

• tathā: thus/so
• tathā: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: Indeclinable adverb (क्रियाविशेषण)

• īśānam: Īśāna (Śiva)
• īśānam: Karma (कर्म) of praṇipatya (object of bowing)
• Type: Noun
• Root: īśāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; ‘Īśāna (Lord Śiva)’

• eka: single
• eka: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण) within compound
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Stem-form in compound (समासपूर्वपद); ‘single/one’

• bāṇa: arrow
• bāṇa: Upapada within compound
• Type: Noun
• Root: bāṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Stem-form in compound (समासपूर्वपद); ‘arrow’

• vinirjitaiḥ: by those defeated by a single arrow
• vinirjitaiḥ: Karaṇa (करण) / Agent-instrument in passive sense with vilupyante (by whom)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vi-nir-√ji (धातु) + jita (कृदन्त; क्त)
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Plural; PPP ‘conquered/defeated’; compound: eka-bāṇa-vinirjita (‘defeated by a single arrow’)

• yasya: whose
• yasya: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular; ‘whose’ (referring to īśāna)

• asura-gaṇaiḥ: by hosts of demons
• asura-gaṇaiḥ: Karaṇa (करण) / Agent-instrument in passive (by demon-hosts)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asura + gaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Plural; tatpuruṣa: ‘groups of asuras/demons’

• yajñāḥ: sacrifices
• yajñāḥ: Karta (कर्ता) of vilupyante (grammatical subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yajña (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural; subject of passive verb

• vilupyante: are destroyed/robbed
• vilupyante: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vi-√lup (धातु)
• Form: Present tense (लट्), Ātmanepada, 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Plural (बहुवचन); passive-like sense ‘are plundered/destroyed’

• na: not
• na: Pratiṣedha (प्रतिषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: Indeclinable negation particle (निषेध)

• yajvinām: of the sacrificers
• yajvinām: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yajvin (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural; ‘of sacrificers’

Speakers

• Narrative voice (Purāṇic narrator); specific interlocutors not explicit in this single verse

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "vira", "secondaryRasa": "raudra", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Primary Deities

• Īśāna (Śiva / Lordship principle)

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Protection of yajña (sacrifice)
• Conflict between Devas and Asuras
• Cosmic order upheld through ritual

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse underscores yajña as a pillar of dharma and social-cosmic stability: when hostile forces (asuras, symbolizing adharma/obstruction) plunder sacrifice, the righteous seek refuge in higher lordship (Īśāna). Ethically, it highlights humility (praṇipāta) and the duty to protect sacred rites that sustain communal and cosmic order.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Primarily aligns with Vaṃśānucarita/Carita (narrative episodes of divine and demonic conflict) and indirectly supports Manvantara/Carita themes by depicting the recurring pattern of asuric disruption and divine restoration that punctuates Purāṇic time. It is not a direct Sarga/Pratisarga cosmogenesis verse.

What is the esoteric significance?

‘Defeated by a single arrow’ can be read as the supremacy of concentrated, one-pointed divine will (ekāgratā) over multiplicity and chaos. The ‘plundering of yajña’ symbolizes the draining of inner spiritual ‘offering’ (discipline, attention, sacred intention) by disruptive tendencies; refuge in Īśāna represents re-centering in the highest governing consciousness that restores the rite—externally and internally.