एवमुक्तो द्विजैर्ज्येष्ठं छन्दयामास सोऽब्रवीत् ।
तन्मन्त्रिप्रहितैर्विप्रैर्वेदाद् विभ्रंशितो गिरा ॥१६॥
वेदवादातिवादान् वै तदा देवो ववर्ष ह ।
देवापिर्योगमास्थाय कलापग्राममाश्रितः ॥१७॥

evam ukto dvijair jyeṣṭhaá¹
chandayÄm Äsa so 'bravÄ«t
tan-mantri-prahitair viprair
vedÄd vibhramÅ›ito girÄ
veda-vÄdÄtivÄdÄn vai
tadÄ devo vavará¹£a ha
devÄpir yogam ÄsthÄya
kalÄpa-grÄmam ÄÅ›ritaḥ

 evam - thus (as above mentioned); uktaḥ - being advised; dvijaiḥ - by the brÄhmaṇas; jyeṣṭham - unto his eldest brother, DevÄpi; chandayÄm Äsa - requested to take charge of the kingdom; saḥ - he (DevÄpi); abravÄ«t - said; tat-mantri - by ÅšÄntanu's minister; prahitaiḥ - instigated; vipraiḥ - by the brÄhmaṇas; vedÄt - from the principles of the Vedas; vibhramÅ›itaḥ - fallen; girÄ - by such words; veda-vÄda-ativÄdÄn - words blaspheming the Vedic injunctions; vai - indeed; tadÄ - at that time; devaḥ - the demigod; vavará¹£a - showered rains; ha - in the past; devÄpiḥ - DevÄpi; yogam ÄsthÄya - accepting the process of mystic yoga; kalÄpa-grÄmam - the village known as KalÄpa; ÄÅ›ritaḥ - took shelter of (and is living in even now).


Text

When the brÄhmaṇas said this, MahÄrÄja ÅšÄntanu went to the forest and requested his elder brother DevÄpi to take charge of the kingdom, for it is the duty of a king to maintain his subjects. Previously, however, ÅšÄntanu’s minister AÅ›vavÄra had instigated some brÄhmaṇas to induce DevÄpi to transgress the injunctions of the Vedas and thus make himself unfit for the post of ruler. The brÄhmaṇas deviated DevÄpi from the path of the Vedic principles, and therefore when asked by ÅšÄntanu he did not agree to accept the post of ruler. On the contrary, he blasphemed the Vedic principles and therefore became fallen. Under the circumstances, ÅšÄntanu again became the king, and Indra, being pleased, showered rains. DevÄpi later took to the path of mystic yoga to control his mind and senses and went to the village named KalÄpagrÄma, where he is still living.

Purport