Shloka 1
Adhyāya 283: Varṇa-vṛtti, Nyāya-ārjana, and the Decline-and-Restoration of Dharma (वर्णवृत्तिः न्यायार्जनं च)
(दाक्षिणात्य अधिक पाठका ह “लोक मिलाकर कुल ६३ ३ “लोक हैं) ८5 >> श््मु #* +/<< चतुरशीर्त्याधेकद्विशततमो< ध्याय: पार्वतीके रोष एवं खेदका निवारण करनेके लिये भगवान् शिवके द्वारा दक्षयज्ञका विध्वंस
janamejaya uvāca | prācetasasya dakṣasya kathaṃ vaivasvate 'ntare | vināśam agamad brahman hayamedhaḥ prajāpateḥ ||
阇那美阇耶说道：“婆罗门啊！在毗婆斯伐多摩奴纪（Vaivasvata Manvantara）之中，普罗切塔斯之子达刹·般阇波提（Dakṣa Prajāpati）所行的马祭（Aśvamedha）为何竟遭毁灭？”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharmic inquiry: even a grand Vedic rite like the Aśvamedha can fail if the sacrificer’s conduct violates higher ethical and devotional norms. It prepares the lesson that ritual power is subordinate to humility, right intention, and reverence toward the divine and the righteous.
King Janamejaya asks the sage to explain a famous episode: in the Vaivasvata Manvantara, how Dakṣa Prajāpati’s Aśvamedha sacrifice was destroyed. This question introduces the ensuing account of the Dakṣa-yajña episode and its causes and consequences.