तद्धि पूर्वं नरश्रेष्ठ दत्तं सदसि दैवतै:। अप्रमेयबलं घोरं मखे परमभास्वरम्।।1.31.8।।
Meaning
Best of men, it was given long ago in an assembly by the gods themselves — of immeasurable, terrible power, and most radiant at the sacrifice.
Word-by-word (pada-artha)
| Word | Devanagari | Meaning | Grammatical role |
|---|---|---|---|
| tat hi pūrvam nara-śreṣṭha | तत् हि पूर्वम् नर-श्रेष्ठ | for that, formerly, O best of men | Nominative singular / Vocative |
| dattam sadasi daivataiḥ | दत्तम् सदसि दैवतैः | given in the [sacrificial] assembly by the gods | Nominative singular / Locative / Instrumental |
| aprameya-balam ghoram | अप्रमेय-बलम् घोरम् | of immeasurable might, terrible | Nominative singular |
| makhe parama-bhāsvaram | मखे परम-भास्वरम् | at the sacrifice, most radiant | Locative / Nominative |
Scholar commentary
valmikiramayan.net Prose Commentary
Desiraju Hanumanta Rao's prose rendering with embedded explanatory notes
The source identifies this as Shiva's own bow, the weapon with which he destroyed Daksha's sacrifice; the gods later placated Shiva and obtained the bow from him, then gave it to Devarata, an earlier king of Mithila and grandfather of the present King Janaka, as the fruit of a Vedic ritual.
1 of 16 traditions have commentary on this shloka. Traditions without a verse-specific commentary here are omitted rather than filled in.
Reference: 1.31.8 · Bāla Kāṇḍa