Mahabharata 9.38.5 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 38, Shloka 5

Kapālamocana-tīrtha (Auśanasa) and Balarāma’s Sarasvatī Pilgrimage

Devanagari script

पितामहस्य महतो वर्तमाने महामखे । वितते यज्ञवाटे च संसिद्धिषु द्विजातिषु

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | pitāmahasya mahato vartamāne mahāmakhe | vitate yajñavāṭe ca saṃsiddhiṣu dvijātiṣu ||

Translation

ایک وقت مہاپِتامہ برہما کا عظیم یَجْن جاری تھا۔ پھیلے ہوئے یَجْن-وِاٹ میں کامل دْوِج—برہمن—موجود تھے۔

Word by Word

• पितामहस्य: of the grandsire (Brahmā)
• पितामहस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितामह
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• महतः: of the great
• महतः: Sambandha
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• वर्तमाने: while (it) was going on / in progress
• वर्तमाने: Adhikarana
• Type: Verb
• Root: वृत् (वर्तते)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular, शानच् (present active participle, Ātmanepada sense)

• महामखे: in the great sacrifice
• महामखे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महामख
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• वितते: in the expanded/spread-out
• वितते: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वितत
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• यज्ञवाटे: in the sacrificial enclosure/arena
• यज्ञवाटे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: यज्ञवाट
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• संसिद्धिषु: among the accomplished/perfected ones
• संसिद्धिषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: संसिद्धि
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Plural

• द्विजातिषु: among the twice-born (Brahmins etc.)
• द्विजातिषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्विजाति
• Form: Feminine, Locative, Plural

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Pitāmaha (Brahmā)
• Puṣkara-tīrtha (Pushkara sacred ford)
• yajñavāṭa (sacrificial enclosure)
• yajñamaṇḍapa (sacrificial pavilion)
• dvijātis (twice-born priests)
• devatās (gods)
• Vedic mantras
• puṇyāhavācana (auspicious recitation)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights dharmic order through a properly conducted yajña: purity of recitation, competence of the officiants, and harmony between human ritual action and divine cooperation. It implies that ethical and cosmic stability are sustained by disciplined, faultless performance of sacred duties.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes a grand sacrifice of Brahmā at Puṣkara: the ritual ground is fully arranged, accomplished priests are seated, auspicious proclamations and Vedic mantras fill the pavilion, and the gods are actively engaged in the sacrificial proceedings.