Shloka 22
Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 180 — Svayaṃvara-Virodha and Pāṇḍava Parākrama
Draupadī Episode
महद्धयशिरो भूत्वा यत् तद् वेदविदो विदुः । तमग्निमुद्गिरद् वक्त्रात् पिबत्यापो महोदधौ
vasiṣṭha uvāca | mahad dhayaśiro bhūtvā yat tad vedavido viduḥ | tam agnim udgirad vaktrāt pibaty āpo mahodadhau | sarvarākṣasasatrāya sambhṛtaṃ pāvakaṃ tadā | uttare himavatpārśve utsasarja mahāvane |
婆悉吒说道：“为通晓吠陀者所识之彼者，化为伟大的‘马首’之形。它从口中不断喷吐那火，又饮尽大海之水。随后，为了举行旨在歼灭一切罗刹的祭仪而积聚的火，被释放在北方、近喜马拉雅的广阔森林之中。”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Immense destructive energy—especially anger—must be restrained and placed where it cannot harm the innocent; even when destruction is ritually or morally motivated, it should be contained so that cosmic order (dharma) is preserved.
Vasiṣṭha describes a mare-headed manifestation associated with a terrible fire that continually drinks the ocean’s waters while emitting flame; he then notes that a fire gathered for a long sacrificial rite aimed at destroying rākṣasas was released in a great northern forest near the Himalaya.