Shloka 19

Satyavatī’s Disclosure and the Summoning of Vyāsa

Niyoga for Kuru Succession

Devanagari script

इमे5ष्टौ वसवो देवा महाभागा महौजस: । वसिष्ठशापदोषेण मानुषत्वमुपागता:,ये तुम्हारे आठ पुत्र महातेजस्वी महाभाग वसु देवता हैं। वसिष्ठजीके शाप-दोषसे ये मनुष्य-योनिमें आये थे

Transliteration

ime 'ṣṭau vasavo devā mahābhāgā mahaujasaḥ | vasiṣṭhaśāpa-doṣeṇa mānuṣatvam upāgatāḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Dies sind die acht Vasus — göttliche Wesen von großem Glück und mächtigem Glanz. Durch das Vergehen, das aus Vasiṣṭhas Fluch erwuchs, kamen sie dazu, menschliche Geburt anzunehmen.“

Word by Word

इमेthese

अष्टौeight

वसवःVasus

देवाःgods

महाभागाःhighly fortunate, illustrious

महौजसःof great vigor/energy

वसिष्ठof Vasiṣṭha

शापby (a) curse

दोषेणby the fault/effect

मानुषत्वम्human state, humanity

उपागताःhaving attained, having come to

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Vasus (Aṣṭa Vasavaḥ)

Vasiṣṭha

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even exalted beings are not exempt from moral causality: a wrongful act (doṣa) can bring binding consequences, here expressed as a curse leading to human embodiment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana identifies the eight Vasus and explains why they were born as humans: they incurred Vasiṣṭha’s curse due to a fault, and thus entered the human condition.