Shloka 17
भरद्वाजपुत्रवधः
The Slaying of Bharadvāja’s Son and the Sage’s Lament
ये तु पुत्रकृताच्छोकाद् भुशं व्याकुलचेतस: । शपन्तीष्टान् सखीनारततस्तिभ्य: पापतरो नु कः,जो पुत्रशोकसे मन-ही-मन व्याकुल हो गहरी व्यथाका अनुभव करते हुए अपने प्रिय मित्रोंको भी शाप दे डालते हैं, उनसे बढ़कर महापापी दूसरा कौन हो सकता है?
ye tu putrakṛtāc chokād bhuśaṁ vyākulacetasaḥ | śapantīṣṭān sakhīn āratatas tibhyaḥ pāpataro nu kaḥ ||
ভৰদ্বাজ ক’লে—পুত্ৰজনিত শোকে অতি ব্যাকুলচিত্ত হৈ যিসকলে নিজৰ প্ৰিয় সখীকেও শাপ দিয়ে পেলায়, তেওঁলোকতকৈ অধিক পাপী আৰু কোন?
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
Grief does not justify adharma in speech: even in intense sorrow, one should restrain anger and avoid cursing or harming the innocent—especially one’s well-wishers—since such conduct deepens one’s moral fault (pāpa).
Bharadvāja delivers a moral rebuke, pointing to a pattern where people, shaken by the sorrow connected with a son, lose mental balance and lash out by cursing even dear friends; he frames this as a grave ethical failing.