Shloka 33

Pulastya’s Tīrtha Enumeration: Sarasvatī, Naimiṣa, Gayā, and Associated Phalaśruti

Chapter 82

Devanagari script

जन्मप्रभृति यत्‌ पापं स्त्रिया वा पुरुषेण वा

Transliteration

janmaprabhṛti yat pāpaṃ striyā vā puruṣeṇa vā

Translation

ঘূলস্ত্য ক’লে—জন্মৰ পৰা আৰম্ভ কৰি নাৰী বা পুৰুষে যি পাপেই কৰি থাকক…

Word by Word

• जन्मप्रभृति: from birth onward
• जन्मप्रभृति: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: जन्मन् + प्रभृति
• Form: Avyaya (indeclinable); sense: 'from (the time of) birth onwards'

• यत्: which/whatever
• यत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Neuter; nominative/accusative; singular

• पापम्: sin, evil deed
• पापम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप
• Form: Neuter; nominative/accusative; singular

• स्त्रिया: by a woman
• स्त्रिया: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्त्री
• Form: Feminine; instrumental; singular

• वा: or
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा
• Form: Avyaya (indeclinable)

• पुरुषेण: by a man
• पुरुषेण: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरुष
• Form: Masculine; instrumental; singular

• वा: or
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा
• Form: Avyaya (indeclinable)

Speaker

घुलस्त्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Ghūlastya

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line frames moral responsibility as universal: wrongdoing accumulated “from birth onward” applies equally to women and men, preparing the ground for a teaching about how such pāpa is to be understood, confessed, expiated, or purified within dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Ghūlastya begins a statement (continued in the next verse) introducing the topic of sins accrued over a lifetime, explicitly including both genders, as part of a broader ethical or expiatory discussion in the Vana Parva.