Shloka 44

कुमाराभिषेकप्रश्नः — Inquiry into Kumāra (Skanda) Investiture at Sarasvatī

Devanagari script

इष्टवा यथावद्‌ बलभिदरुणायामुपास्पृशत्‌ | स मुक्तः पाप्मना तेन ब्रह्म॒वध्याकृतेन च

Transliteration

iṣṭvā yathāvad balabhid-aruṇāyām upāspṛśat | sa muktaḥ pāpmanā tena brahmavadhyākṛtena ca

Translation

ครั้นประกอบพิธีบูชายัญตามแบบแผนแล้ว เขาได้สัมผัสน้ำ (อาบชำระ) ณ พลภิด-อรุณาเพื่อการชำระล้าง ด้วยอนุษฐานนั้น เขาพ้นจากมลทินแห่งบาป—โดยเฉพาะมหาบาปอันเกิดจากการฆ่าพราหมณ์—กลับคืนสู่ความบริสุทธิ์แห่งธรรมและพิธีกรรม

Word by Word

इष्ट्वाhaving worshipped/sacrificed

यथावत्duly, according to rule

बलभिद्in (the presence of) Balabhid (Indra)

अरुणायाम्in/at Aruṇā (a sacred place/river)

उपास्पृशत्he performed ablution/touched water (ritually)

सःhe

मुक्तःfreed, released

पाप्मनाfrom sin/evil (lit. by/with sin; in sense 'from')

तेनby that, thereby

ब्रह्मवध्याby the sin of brahmin-slaying (brahmahatyā)

कृतेनdone/committed

चand

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Balabhit (Indra)

Aruṇā (sacred river/water-place)

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?

Even in the aftermath of grave wrongdoing, dharma provides structured means—properly performed rites and purification—to acknowledge transgression and seek release from its moral and ritual taint, emphasizing accountability and restoration rather than denial.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator states that the person in question completes a rite correctly and then performs a purificatory water-touching at the sacred place called Aruṇā; through this observance he becomes freed from the sin, explicitly including the heavy guilt of brāhmaṇa-slaying.