Shloka 18

धृतराष्ट्रपुत्रनामावलिः (Roster of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Children) / Names of the Kauravas in Order

Devanagari script

वैशम्पायन उवाच एतेन त्वपराधेन शापात्‌ तस्य महात्मन: । धर्मो विदुररूपेण शूद्रयोनावजायत,वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--राजन्‌! इसी अपराधके कारण महात्मा माण्डव्यके शापसे साक्षात्‌ धर्म ही विदुररूपसे शूद्रयोनिमें उत्पन्न हुए

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca: etena tv aparādhenā śāpāt tasya mahātmanaḥ | dharmo vidura-rūpeṇa śūdra-yonyām ajāyata ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „O König! Eben dieses Vergehens wegen und durch den Fluch des großherzigen Māṇḍavya wurde Dharma selbst aus einem Śūdra-Leib geboren und nahm die Gestalt Viduras an.“

Word by Word

वैशम्पायनःVaiśampāyana

उवाचsaid

एतेनby this

तुindeed/but

अपराधेनby the offense

शापात्from (due to) the curse

तस्यof him

महात्मनःof the great-souled one

धर्मःDharma (the deity of righteousness)

विदुररूपेणin the form of Vidura

शूद्रयोनौin a Śūdra womb/birth

अजायतwas born/arose

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Māṇḍavya

Dharma

Vidura

Śūdra (yoni)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even Dharma, the very principle of justice, is shown as subject to moral accountability: an offence can bring consequences through a curse, underscoring that ethical order operates impartially and that responsibility is not avoided by status or divinity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana explains to the king that a prior wrongdoing led to the sage Māṇḍavya cursing Dharma; as a result, Dharma incarnated as Vidura and took birth in a Śūdra womb.