Text 14] King Prthu’s One Hundred Horse Sacrifices 741

TEXT 13

afin aifeat et TIGA ART: |
wad dgates ash arta 12311

atrind codito hantum
prthu-putro maha-rathah

anvadhavata sankruddhas
tistha tistheti cabravit

atrina—by the great sage Atri; coditah—being encouraged; hantum—to
kill; prthu-putrah—the son of King Prthu; maha-rathah—a great hero;
anvadhavata—followed; sankruddhah—being very angry; tistha tistha—just
wail, just wait; iti—thus; ca—also; abravit—he said.

TRANSLATION

When the son of King Prthu was informed by Atri of King Indra’s trick,
he immediately became very angry and followed Indra to kill him, calling,
“Wait! Wait!”

PURPORT

The words tistha tistha are used by a ksatriya when he challenges his
enemy. When fighting, aksatriya cannot flee from the battlefield. However,
when a ksatriya out of cowardice flees from the battlefield, showing his
back to his enemy, he is challenged with the words tistha tistha. A real
ksatriya does not kill his enemy from behind, nor does a real ksatriya turn
his back on the battlefield. According to ksatriya principle and spirit,
one either attains victory or dies in the battlefield. Although King Indra
was very exalted, being the King of heaven, he became degraded due to his
stealing the horse intended for sacrifice. Therefore he fled without observing
the ksatriya principles, and the son of Prthu had to challenge him with the
words tistha tistha.

TEXT 14

a areareta ater Fa aed ae |
afd TEAS TR aT a gata eV!

tam tddrsakrtim viksya
mene dharmam Saririnam
