Shloka 14
Nakula’s Declaration and the Uñchavṛtti Brāhmaṇa’s Superior Merit (Āśvamedhika Parva, Adhyāya 92)
सत्र चेद॑ महद् विप्रा मुनेर्द्धादिशवार्षिकम् । न वर्षिष्यति देवश्न वर्षाण्येतानि द्वादश
satraṁ ced idaṁ mahad viprā muner dvādaśavārṣikam | na varṣiṣyati deveśa varṣāṇy etāni dvādaśa ||
Wika ni Vaiśampāyana: “O mga brāhmaṇa, kung ang dakilang satra ng muni ay magpapatuloy sa loob ng labindalawang taon, kung gayon ang panginoon ng mga diyos ay hindi magpapadala ng ulan sa mismong labindalawang taong iyon.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between human ritual power and divine control of natural order: prolonged sacrificial undertakings can provoke divine resistance, reminding readers that dharma involves balancing ritual ambition with the welfare of the world (rain, sustenance).
Vaiśampāyana reports that a great twelve-year satra is underway (or proposed) by a sage, and that the lord of the gods—understood as Indra—will withhold rain for the entire twelve-year period, foreshadowing hardship and conflict around the sacrifice.