Shloka 2

Devanagari script

त्वक्त्वा महीत्वं भूमिस्तु स्पर्थयाड्रनूपस्य ह | नाशं जगाम तां विप्रो व्यस्तम्भयत कश्यप:

Transliteration

tvaktvā mahītvaṁ bhūmis tu spardhayā dranūpasya ha | nāśaṁ jagāma tāṁ vipro vyastambhayat kaśyapaḥ ||

Translation

Arjuna nói: “Thuở nọ, vì sự ganh đua với vua Aṅga, Đất—nữ thần chủ quản—đã từ bỏ năng lực nâng đỡ trật tự thế gian và trở nên vô hình, như thể đã lâm vào diệt vong. Khi ấy, hiền triết Kaśyapa, bậc tối thượng, nhờ sức mạnh khổ hạnh của mình đã chống đỡ và giữ vững trái đất thô trọng này.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'tvaktvā', 'definition': 'having abandoned, having cast off'}, {'term': 'mahītvaṁ', 'definition': 'the state/office of being Earth (earthhood

• the Earth’s sustaining status)'}, {'term': 'bhūmiḥ', 'definition': 'Earth

• the earth-goddess/presiding deity of the Earth'}, {'term': 'spardhayā', 'definition': 'due to rivalry, competition, contention'}, {'term': 'aṅgasya (dranūpasya)', 'definition': 'of (King) Aṅga

• of the king (nṛpa) (textual reading uncertain in the given line)'}, {'term': 'nāśaṁ jagāma', 'definition': 'went to destruction/ruin

• perished (idiomatically: disappeared, became as if lost)'}, {'term': 'vīpraḥ / vipraḥ', 'definition': 'a brahmin

• a sage'}, {'term': 'vyastambhayat', 'definition': 'supported, held up, propped up, stabilized'}, {'term': 'kaśyapaḥ', 'definition': 'Kaśyapa (a great ṛṣi)'}, {'term': 'tapas (implied by context)', 'definition': 'austerity

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Arjuna
• Bhūmi (Earth-goddess / presiding deity of Earth)
• King Aṅga
• Ṛṣi Kaśyapa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

When worldly order is shaken—here symbolized by the Earth withdrawing her sustaining power—dharma can be preserved by those who possess inner discipline and spiritual strength. The verse highlights the ethical idea that stability of society and cosmos depends not only on rulers but also on the restraint and merit (tapas) of sages who uphold order when governance falters.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna recounts an old episode: due to a conflict involving King Aṅga, the Earth’s presiding goddess becomes invisible, as if the world-supporting function has been abandoned. In that crisis, the sage Kaśyapa uses his ascetic power to hold and stabilize the Earth, preventing collapse.