Shloka 26

Kṛṣṇasya Dvārakā-praveśaḥ — Krishna’s Return to Dvārakā and the Raivataka Festival

Devanagari script

ह्वियमाणे तु दृष्टवा स कुण्डले भुजगेन ह

Transliteration

hviyamāṇe tu dṛṣṭvā sa kuṇḍale bhujagena ha

Translation

毗舍波耶那说：见那蛇将耳环衔走，圣者优多迦惊惧震动。烈怒充塞其心，他从树上一跃而下，抓起一根木杖，便开始掘那蚁丘——为尽其法义，夺回被夺之物，纠正这不义的强取。

Word by Word

• ह्वियमाणे: while (he/it was) being called/invoked
• ह्वियमाणे: Adhikarana
• Type: Verb
• Root: ह्वि (√ह्वा/ह्वे)
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular, शानच् (present passive participle)

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• दृष्ट्वा: having seen
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश् (√दृश्)
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund)

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• कुण्डले: the two earrings
• कुण्डले: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुण्डल
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Dual

• भुजगेन: by the serpent
• भुजगेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भुजग
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• ह: indeed (emphatic particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ह

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• Uttaṅka
• serpent (nāga)
• kuṇḍala (earrings)
• tree
• wooden staff (kāṣṭha-daṇḍa)
• anthill/termite mound (vāmbī/valmīka)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The episode highlights dharma as active responsibility: when something is wrongfully taken, one must act decisively to restore what is due—yet the narrative also warns that righteous purpose can be accompanied by intense anger, which must be directed wisely rather than allowed to become destructive.

What is happening in the narrative?

A serpent steals/carries off the earrings. Uttaṅka, seeing this, becomes alarmed and enraged, jumps down from the tree, takes a wooden staff, and starts digging into the anthill (the serpent’s entry point) to pursue and recover the earrings.