Shloka 54

Adhyāya 283: Varṇa-vṛtti, Nyāya-ārjana, and the Decline-and-Restoration of Dharma (वर्णवृत्तिः न्यायार्जनं च)

Devanagari script

भद्रकालीति विख्याता देव्या: कोपाद्‌ विनि:सृता । प्रेषितो देवदेवेन यज्ञान्तिकमिहागतौ

Transliteration

bhadrakālīti vikhyātā devyāḥ kopād viniḥsṛtā | preṣito devadevena yajñāntikam ihāgatau |

Translation

“Nàng được biết đến là Bhadrakālī, sinh khởi từ cơn thịnh nộ của Nữ Thần. Được Thần của các thần sai phái, chúng ta đã đến ngay sát nơi tế lễ này.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'bhadrakālī', 'definition': 'Bhadrakālī

• a fierce, auspicious form of the Goddess manifested in wrath'}, {'term': 'iti', 'definition': 'thus

• indicating a name or quotation (“called…”)'}, {'term': 'vikhyātā', 'definition': 'well-known

• renowned'}, {'term': 'devyāḥ', 'definition': 'of the Goddess (genitive singular)'}, {'term': 'kopāt', 'definition': 'from wrath/anger (ablative singular)'}, {'term': 'viniḥsṛtā', 'definition': 'issued forth

• manifested'}, {'term': 'preṣitaḥ', 'definition': 'sent

• dispatched'}, {'term': 'devadevena', 'definition': 'by the God of gods (instrumental singular)'}, {'term': 'yajña-antikam', 'definition': 'near the sacrifice

• to the sacrificial ground'}, {'term': 'iha', 'definition': 'here'}, {'term': 'āgatau', 'definition': 'we two have come/arrived (dual)'}]

Speaker

वीरभद्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhadrakālī
• Devī (the Goddess)
• Devadeva (God of gods; epithet of Śiva/Mahādeva)
• Yajña (sacrifice; sacrificial ground)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames divine power as responsive to moral and ritual disorder: wrath-born manifestations (like Bhadrakālī) arise to restore balance, and even a yajña is not automatically righteous unless aligned with dharma and reverence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vīrabhadra identifies Bhadrakālī as a wrath-manifested form of the Goddess and states that the God of gods (Śiva/Mahādeva) has dispatched them; therefore, they have arrived at the sacrificial ground, signaling divine intervention at the yajña.