Shloka 22

Asita Devala Observes Jaigīṣavya’s Yogic Attainment and Chooses Mokṣa-dharma (देवल-जैगीषव्योपाख्यानम्)

Devanagari script

तत्र हत्वा पुरा विष्णुरसुरी मधुकैटभौ । आप्लुत्य भरतश्रेष्ठ तीर्थप्रवर उत्तमे

Transliteration

tatra hatvā purā viṣṇur asurī madhukaiṭabhau | āplutya bharataśreṣṭha tīrthapravara uttame ||

Translation

ณ ที่นั้นเอง ในกาลก่อน พระวิษณุได้สังหารอสูรมธุและไกฏภะ; แล้วโอผู้ประเสริฐแห่งภารตะ เมื่อทรงสรงสนาน ณ ตีรถะอันยอดเยี่ยมและเป็นเลิศนั้น (ก็ทรงบริสุทธิ์ผ่องแผ้ว)

Word by Word

तत्रthere

हत्वाhaving slain

पुराformerly, once

विष्णुःVishnu

असुरीdemonic (female)

मधुकैटभौMadhu and Kaitabha

आप्लुत्यhaving plunged/bathed

भरतश्रेष्ठO best of the Bharatas

तीर्थप्रवरेin the foremost sacred ford

उत्तमेexcellent, best

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Viṣṇu

Madhu

Kaiṭabha

tīrtha (sacred ford/pilgrimage spot)

Bharata (dynastic epithet)

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 links righteous action and sacred space: even divine victory over destructive forces is paired with ritual purification at a tīrtha, underscoring the Mahābhārata’s ethic that power and violence must be framed within dharma and sanctifying discipline.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana points to a particular holy place, recalling an ancient precedent: Viṣṇu once killed the demonic pair Madhu and Kaiṭabha there and then bathed at that foremost tīrtha, establishing the site’s sanctity through mythic memory.