Shloka 44

Nakula’s Declaration and the Uñchavṛtti Brāhmaṇa’s Superior Merit (Āśvamedhika Parva, Adhyāya 92)

Devanagari script

तमाज्ञाय मुनि: क्रोधं नैवास्य स चुकोप ह । स तु क्रोधस्ततो राजन ब्राह्मणीं मूर्तिमास्थित: । जिते तस्मिन्‌ भगुश्रेष्ठम भ्यभाषदमर्षण:

Transliteration

tam ājñāya muniḥ krodhaṃ naivāsya sa cukopa ha | sa tu krodhas tato rājan brāhmaṇīṃ mūrtim āsthitaḥ | jite tasmin bhṛguśreṣṭham abhyabhāṣad amārṣaṇaḥ ||

Translation

毗湿摩波耶那说道：圣者识破那是“忿怒”，却并不以怒还怒。于是，王啊，那忿怒化作一位婆罗门女子之形。既被圣者降伏，那不肯忍受的忿怒便对婆利古族中最尊者说道——

Word by Word

• {'tam': 'him/that (accusative singular

• here: that Wrath as an entity)', 'ājñāya': 'having recognized, having understood (gerund of √jñā with ā-)', 'muniḥ': 'sage, ascetic', 'krodham': 'wrath, anger (personified here)', 'na eva': 'not at all', 'asya': 'toward him/it

• contextually ‘at it’)', 'cukopa': 'became angry (perfect of √kup)', 'ha': 'indeed, emphatic particle', 'tataḥ': 'then, thereafter', 'rājan': 'O king (vocative)', 'brāhmaṇīm': 'a brāhmaṇa woman (accusative singular feminine)', 'mūrtim': 'form, embodiment', 'āsthitaḥ': 'having assumed, having taken up (past participle of ā-√sthā)', 'jite': 'when (it was) conquered/overcome (locative absolute from √ji)', 'tasmin': 'in that (situation)

• by him/therein (locative singular)', 'bhṛguśreṣṭham': 'the best of the Bhṛgus (Bhṛgu-lineage sage

• accusative singular)', 'abhyabhāṣat': 'addressed, spoke to (aorist of abhi-√bhāṣ)', 'amārṣaṇaḥ': 'unforbearing, intolerant, implacable (epithet of Wrath)'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• muni (sage)
• Krodha (Wrath, personified)
• brāhmaṇī (brāhmaṇa woman-form)
• Bhṛguśreṣṭha (foremost of the Bhṛgus)
• rājan (the king, i.e., Janamejaya as listener)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights mastery over anger: the sage recognizes wrath as a force to be understood and subdued rather than mirrored. Ethical strength is shown as non-reactivity—conquering krodha without becoming krodhita.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Vaiśampāyana’s narration to the king, Wrath appears as an entity. The sage identifies it and refuses to be provoked. Wrath then takes the form of a brāhmaṇa woman, but after being overcome, it speaks to the foremost Bhṛgu sage.