Shloka 2
Vasiṣṭhāpavāha: Sarasvatī’s Diversion and Viśvāmitra’s Curse (वसिष्ठापवाहः)
जुहाव धृतराष्ट्रस्य राष्ट्र वैचित्रवीर्यिण: । तपसा घोररूपेण कर्षयन् देहमात्मन:
Vaiśampāyana uvāca | juhāva dhṛtarāṣṭrasya rāṣṭraṁ vaicittravīryiṇaḥ | tapasā ghorarūpeṇa karṣayan deham ātmanaḥ, krodhena mahatāviṣṭo dharmātmā vai pratāpavān |
وَیشَمپایَن نے کہا—اے راجَن! وہ دھرماتما اور عظیم جلال والا تپسوی شدید غضب میں مبتلا ہو کر، ہولناک تپسیا سے اپنے جسم کو لاغر کرتا ہوا، گویا آہوتی کی طرح، وِچِتروِیریہ کے پتر دھرتراشٹر کی سلطنت کو ہوم کر گیا۔
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical danger of krodha (anger): when combined with spiritual power (tapas), it can magnify harm beyond the individual, affecting entire communities and kingdoms. Righteousness (dharmātmatā) without mastery over anger can still lead to destructive outcomes.
Vaiśampāyana describes a powerful ascetic who, seized by great anger, undertakes fierce austerities that waste his body and then performs an oblation/rite whose effect is the destruction (or ‘burning up’) of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s realm—an episode illustrating the potency of ascetic rites and curses in the epic’s world.