Shloka 23
आदि पर्व — खाण्डवदाह प्रसङ्गः: पावकस्य याचनं तथा इन्द्रवर्षनिवारणोपायः
Adi Parva — Khāṇḍava episode: Agni’s request and the means to resist Indra’s rain
सो5शपत् कुपितोअस्मासु ब्राह्मण: क्षत्रियर्षभ । ग्राहभूता जले यूयं चरिष्यथ शतं समा:,क्षत्रियशिरोमणे! हमारी उद्ण्डतासे कुपित होकर उन ब्राह्मणने हमें शाप दे दिया --“तुमलोग सौ वर्षोतक जलमें ग्राह बनकर रहोगी”
so 'śapat kupito 'smāsu brāhmaṇaḥ kṣatriyarṣabha | grāhabhūtā jale yūyaṃ cariṣyatha śataṃ samāḥ ||
বৈশম্পায়ন বললেন—হে ক্ষত্রিয়শ্রেষ্ঠ! আমাদের উদ্ধততায় ক্রুদ্ধ সেই ব্রাহ্মণ আমাদের অভিশাপ দিলেন—“তোমরা জলে গ্রাহ-রূপ ধারণ করে একশো বছর বাস করবে।”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical danger of pride and disrespect—especially toward a brāhmaṇa or a person of spiritual discipline—showing that rash conduct can invite severe, prolonged consequences through the moral force of a curse.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that an angered brāhmaṇa, provoked by the group’s insolence, curses them to become grāhas (crocodile-like aquatic beings) and to remain in the water for a hundred years.