Mahāvasu’s Fall by Speech-Error and Release through Devotion (अज-विवादः वसोः शापः विमोचनं च)
अन्तरिक्षाच्च कौरव्य दण्ड: कृष्णाजिनं च ह
antarikṣācca kauravya daṇḍaḥ kṛṣṇājinaṃ ca ha
Wika ni Bhīṣma: “O Kauravya, mula sa himpapawid ay lumitaw ang isang tungkod ng asceta, at gayundin ang balat ng itim na antelope.”
भीष्म उवाच
The verse highlights ascetic emblems—daṇḍa and kṛṣṇājina—as outward signs of inner discipline. In the Shānti Parva’s ethical frame, it suggests that true dharma is supported by self-restraint, simplicity, and vowed conduct, which legitimize teaching and leadership.
Bhīṣma narrates a moment where, from the sky, a staff and a black antelope-skin appear. Such a miraculous appearance typically signals divine approval or the formal bestowal of ascetic status, introducing or validating a figure’s tapas and authority in the ongoing discourse on dharma.