Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 11
ब्राह्मण–क्षत्रिय-श्रेष्ठता-विवादः
Arjuna–Vāyu Dialogue on Brāhmaṇa and Kṣatriya Precedence
तद् बल॑ तस्य देवस्य धरामुद्धरतस्तथा । “बलदेव (शेष या अनन्त) आदि जो अत्यन्त बलशाली नाग हैं
tad balaṁ tasya devasya dharām uddharatas tathā |
勒努迦说道：“愿那位神圣主宰在举起大地之时的力量，化作我精力与威能的增长而降临于我。愿婆罗提婆——舍沙/阿难陀，那至强的大蛇，无尽、不坏、恒常顶戴诸伞盖——以及其族系所生的其他巨蛇，领受我为增益自身光辉与力量而奉上的此供。昔日吉祥的主那罗延自唯一的宇宙大海之水中拯举此大地，愿当时显现在其圣身中的威力成为我的。”说罢，应将供品呈于蚁丘/蛇冢（anthill），撒以那伽计舍罗花，涂以檀香，覆以蓝布，并于日落时分置于冢旁。
रेणुक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames strength (bala) and spiritual radiance (tejas) as gifts sought through reverent alignment with divine exemplars—especially Nārāyaṇa’s cosmic act of rescuing the Earth—and through respectful offerings to the nāga principle embodied by Śeṣa/Ananta. Power is presented as something to be received ethically via devotion and proper ritual, not seized through harm.
Renukā utters a prayer requesting that the Lord’s strength—manifest when He raised the Earth from the cosmic ocean—be transferred as an increase of her own vigor. She then prescribes a concrete ritual act: placing an offering at a serpent-mound (valmīka), adorning it with nāgakesara and sandal, covering it with blue cloth, and depositing it at sunset for the nāgas to accept.