Atithi-satkāra and the Consolation of Wise Counsel (अतिथिसत्कारः प्रज्ञानवचनस्य च पराश्वासनम्)
ततो<5हं खण्डपरशु: स्मृत: परशुखण्डनात् । नरका चलाया हुआ वह परशु सहसा रुद्रके द्वारा खण्डित कर दिया गया। मेरे परशुका खण्डन हो जानेसे मैं 'खण्डपरशु” कहलाया
tato 'haṃ khaṇḍa-paraśuḥ smṛtaḥ paraśu-khaṇḍanāt |
“此后,我被人称作‘断斧者’——迦ṇḍa-波罗舒(Khaṇḍa-paraśu),因为我的斧已被击碎。”在叙事框架中,这一称号源自一次决定性的失落及其后果:战士的身份并非以征服为记,而是以兵刃的折断为印——道德上的警策在于,恃力之傲极其脆弱;而在《摩诃婆罗多》中,名号往往封存着一段伦理的历史。
तामिन्द्र उवाच गच्छ नहुषस्त्वया वाच्योथ<पूर्वेण मामृषियुक्तेन यानेन त्वमधिरूढ
The verse illustrates how a person’s reputation can be shaped by a single consequential event, and it subtly cautions against overreliance on martial power: even a weapon—symbol of strength—can be broken, leaving behind a moralized memory encoded in a name.
The speaker explains the origin of the epithet ‘Khaṇḍa-paraśu’: because his axe was broken, he became known by that descriptive name. The line functions as an etiological note (name-origin) within the broader Shānti Parva discourse.