Shloka 29

अग्निशाप-प्रसंगः

Agni’s Curse and the Restoration of Ritual Order

Devanagari script

एवं स भगवाउ्छापं लेभेडग्निर्भुगुत: पुरा । एवमेष पुरावृत्त इतिहासोडग्निशापज: । पुलोम्नश्न विनाशो5यं च्यवनस्य च सम्भव:,इस प्रकार पूर्वकालमें भगवान्‌ अग्निदेवको महर्षि भृगुसे शाप प्राप्त हुआ था। यही अग्निशापसम्बन्धी प्राचीन इतिहास है। पुलोमा राक्षसके विनाश और च्यवन मुनिके जन्मका वृत्तान्त भी यही है

Transliteration

evaṁ sa bhagavān śāpaṁ lebhe 'gnir bhṛgutaḥ purā | evam eṣa purāvṛtta itihāso 'gniśāpajaḥ | pulomnaś ca vināśo 'yaṁ cyavanasya ca sambhavaḥ ||

Translation

Śaunaka sprach: „So geschah es in uralter Zeit, dass der selige Feuergott Agni den Fluch des Weisen Bhṛgu auf sich zog. Dies ist jene alte, weithin bekannte Überlieferung, die aus Agnis Fluch hervorging. Sie enthält auch die Begebenheit von der Vernichtung des Rākṣasa Puloman und von der Geburt des Weisen Cyavana.“

Word by Word

• {'evaṁ': 'thus

• in this manner', 'sa': 'he

• that (referring back to Agni)', 'bhagavān': 'the blessed one

• venerable deity', 'śāpam': 'curse

• imprecation', 'lebhe': 'received

• obtained', 'agniḥ': 'Agni

• the Fire-god', 'bhṛgutaḥ': 'from Bhṛgu (i.e., from the Bhṛgu lineage/sage Bhṛgu)', 'purā': 'formerly

• in ancient times', 'eṣaḥ': 'this', 'purāvṛttaḥ': 'happened long ago

• ancient occurrence', 'itihāsaḥ': 'traditional account

• narrative history', 'agniśāpajaḥ': 'arising from Agni’s curse

• connected with Agni’s curse', 'pulomnaḥ': 'of Puloman (a rākṣasa

• also read as Pulomā-related in context)', 'vināśaḥ': 'destruction

• downfall', 'ayam': 'this (account/episode)', 'cyavanasya': 'of Cyavana (the sage)', 'sambhavaḥ': 'birth

• coming into being', 'ca': 'and'}

Speaker

शौनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śaunaka
• Agni
• Bhṛgu
• Puloman (rākṣasa)
• Cyavana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even divine beings are shown as bound by moral causality: actions and lapses can invite a curse, and that curse unfolds into further events. The verse frames the narrative as an ethical chain of consequence (śāpa → itihāsa → outcomes).

What is happening in the narrative?

Śaunaka summarizes the scope of the episode: Agni once received a curse from Bhṛgu, and the ensuing ancient account includes both the destruction of the rākṣasa Puloman and the birth/origin story of the sage Cyavana.