एतेषां पुत्रपौत्रास् तु प्रसवस्य च संततिः ॥
न शक्याः परिसंख्यातुं ये दीप्तं पावकं गताः ॥
सप्तशीर्षा द्विशीर्षाश् च पञ्चशीर्षास् तथापरे ॥
कालानलविषा घोरा हुताः शतसहस्रशः ॥
महाकाया महावीर्याः शैलशृङ्गसमुच्छ्रयाः ॥
योजनायामविस्तारा द्वियोजनसमायताः ॥
कामरूपाः कामगमा दीप्तानलविषोल्बणाः ॥
दग्धास् तत्र महासत्रे ब्रह्मदण्डनिपीडिताः ॥
eteṣāṃ putrapautrās tu prasavasya ca saṃtatiḥ ||
na śakyāḥ parisaṃkhyātuṃ ye dīptaṃ pāvakaṃ gatāḥ ||
saptaśīrṣā dviśīrṣāś ca pañcaśīrṣās tathāpare ||
kālānalaviṣā ghorā hutāḥ śatasahasraśaḥ ||
mahākāyā mahāvīryāḥ śailaśṛṅgasamucchrayāḥ ||
yojanāyāmavistārā dviyojanasamāyatāḥ ||
kāmarūpāḥ kāmagamā dīptānalaviṣolbaṇāḥ ||
dagdhās tatra mahāsatre brahmadaṇḍanipīḍitāḥ ||
'Their sons, grandsons, and all their offspring, who went into the blazing fire, are uncountable. Seven-headed, and two-headed, and five-headed others, whose venom was like the fire of the end of time, terrible, offered into the fire by the hundreds of thousands; huge-bodied, mighty in power, tall as mountain peaks, a yojana in breadth, two yojanas in length, able to change shape at will, moving wherever they wished, filled with blazing, venomous flame, struck down by the rod of Brahma — the curse — they burned there at that great sacrifice.'
c39ba186bdef · publicado 12 jul 2026, 15:23:56 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
Here the list culminates in an image of an uncountable multitude of the dead — whole lineages destroyed down to the last generation, together with all their offspring. The scripture builds a sense of dread: monstrous serpents, seven-headed, huge as mountains, able to change shape, moving at will — and all of them helpless before the rod of Brahma, the curse. Here is a stern lesson: neither size, nor strength, nor wondrous powers save one from the fruit of karma; even the mightiest are powerless before a pronounced curse. Note the sorrowful completeness of the destruction: not only the guilty but 'sons, grandsons, and all their offspring' — whole generations, including those not yet born — are reduced to ashes. In this way the excess of the vengeance is exposed, one that annihilates not a single offender but an entire lineage down to its root. All the more urgent, then, is the mercy of Astika, who has already asked for the boon: one more moment, and this stream of death will be stopped; this very sorrowful list stands as, so to speak, the final count of those whom the righteous man's word did not manage to save in time — and so it calls out for the compassion of every listener.