Shloka 23

अग्निशाप-प्रसंगः

Agni’s Curse and the Restoration of Ritual Order

Devanagari script

क्रव्यादा च तनुर्या ते सा सर्व भक्षयिष्यति । यथा सूर्याशुभि: स्मृष्टं सर्व शुचि विभाव्यते,“इसके सिवा जो तुम्हारी क्रव्याद मूर्ति है (कच्चा मांस या मुर्दा जलानेवाली जो चिताकी आग है) वही सब कुछ भक्षण करेगी। जैसे सूर्यकी किरणोंसे स्पर्श होनेपर सब वस्तुएँ शुद्ध मानी जाती हैं, उसी प्रकार तुम्हारी ज्वालाओंसे दग्ध होनेपर सब कुछ शुद्ध हो जायगा। अग्निदेव! तुम अपने प्रभावसे ही प्रकट हुए उत्कृष्ट तेज हो; अतः विभो! अपने तेजसे ही महर्षिके उस शापको सत्य कर दिखाओ और अपने मुखमें आहुतिके रूपमें पड़े हुए देवताओंके तथा अपने भागको भी ग्रहण करो”

Transliteration

kravyādā ca tanur yā te sā sarvaṁ bhakṣayiṣyati | yathā sūryāśubhiḥ spṛṣṭaṁ sarvaṁ śuci vibhāvyate ||

Translation

และรูปของท่านที่เป็น ‘กรวยาทะ’—ไฟผู้กินเนื้อ ไฟแห่งเชิงตะกอน—นั่นเองจะกลืนกินทุกสิ่ง ดุจดังสรรพสิ่งถูกนับว่าบริสุทธิ์เมื่อถูกต้องด้วยรัศมีแห่งสุริยะ ฉันใด สิ่งใดถูกเผาด้วยเปลวเพลิงของท่านก็จักถูกนับว่าบริสุทธิ์ฉันนั้น

Word by Word

क्रव्यादाflesh-eating (fire), cremation-fire

चand

तनुःbody, form

याwhich

तेof you, your

साthat (she/it)

सर्वम्everything

भक्षयिष्यतिwill devour, will consume

यथाjust as

सूर्यof the sun

आशुभिःby the swift (rays)

स्पृष्टम्touched

सर्वम्everything

शुचिpure

विभाव्यतेis considered, is regarded

Speaker

शौनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śaunaka

Agni (fire-god)

Sūrya (sun)

Mahārṣi (unnamed seer, implied as the curser)

Devatāḥ (gods, as oblations)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames fire as a purifier within dharmic ritual logic: what Agni consumes is not merely destroyed but transformed and rendered fit—like objects deemed pure by contact with the sun’s rays. It also emphasizes that divine power should uphold the truth of a sage’s word (a curse), preserving cosmic and moral order.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śaunaka addresses Agni, invoking Agni’s ‘kravyāda’ (all-consuming) form and comparing its purifying effect to the sun’s rays. He urges Agni to actualize a mahārṣi’s curse through his own radiance and to accept, as oblations, the gods and his own due portion that have come into his mouth—placing the event in a sacrificial/ritual framework.