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ŚB 9.9.40

Devanagari

अश्मकाद्ब‍ालिको जज्ञे य: स्त्रीभि: परिरक्षित: ।
नारीकवच इत्युक्तो नि:क्षत्रे मूलकोऽभवत् ॥ ४० ॥

Text

aśmakād bāliko jajñe
yaḥ strībhiḥ parirakṣitaḥ
nārī-kavaca ity ukto
niḥkṣatre mūlako ’bhavat

Synonyms

aśmakāt — from that son named Aśmaka; bālikaḥ — a son named Bālika; jajñe — was born; yaḥ — this child Bālika; strībhiḥ — by women; parirakṣitaḥ — was protected; nārī-kavacaḥ — having a shield of women; iti uktaḥ — was known as such; niḥkṣatre — when there were no kṣatriyas (all kṣatriyas having been vanquished by Paraśurāma); mūlakaḥ — Mūlaka, the progenitor of the kṣatriyas; abhavat — he became.

Translation

From Aśmaka, Bālika took birth. Because Bālika was surrounded by women and was therefore saved from the anger of Paraśurāma, he was known as Nārīkavaca [“one who is protected by women”]. When Paraśurāma vanquished all the kṣatriyas, Bālika became the progenitor of more kṣatriyas. Therefore he was known as Mūlaka, the root of the kṣatriya dynasty.