Shloka 18

Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)

Devanagari script

शापाच्छक्रस्य कौन्तेय विभो धर्मोडनशत्‌ तदा । तन्मे धर्म यशश्चाग्रयमायुश्चैवाददत्‌ प्रभु:

Transliteration

śāpāc chakrasya kaunteya vibho dharmo 'danaśat tadā | tan me dharma yaśaś cāgryam āyuś caivādadat prabhuḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „O Sohn der Kuntī! Durch Indras Fluch wurde jener Mächtige damals der Dharma beraubt. Doch der Herr verlieh mir Dharma, den erhabensten Ruhm und langes Leben.“ (So endet das Kapitel in der Anuśāsana-Parva, im Abschnitt Dāna-dharma, in der Erzählung namens „Meghavāhana“.)

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'śāpāt', 'definition': 'from/through a curse'}, {'term': 'śakrasya', 'definition': 'of Śakra (Indra)'}, {'term': 'kaunteya', 'definition': 'O son of Kuntī (address to Yudhiṣṭhira/Arjuna depending on context)'}, {'term': 'vibho', 'definition': 'O mighty one

• O powerful one (vocative)'}, {'term': 'dharmaḥ', 'definition': 'righteousness

• duty'}, {'term': 'adanaśat (≈ adanaśat/adanāśat)', 'definition': 'became deprived

• suffered loss (here: loss of dharma)'}, {'term': 'tadā', 'definition': 'then

• at that time'}, {'term': 'tan me', 'definition': 'that (one) to me / then to me (contextual linkage)'}, {'term': 'yaśaḥ', 'definition': 'fame

• good reputation'}, {'term': 'agryam', 'definition': 'foremost

• preeminent'}, {'term': 'āyuḥ', 'definition': 'life

• longevity'}, {'term': 'prabhuḥ', 'definition': 'the Lord

• the powerful one (often a divine agent)'}, {'term': 'ādadat', 'definition': 'gave

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Śakra (Indra)
• Kaunteya
• Prabhu (Lord)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights moral causality and restoration: a curse can cause the loss of dharma (ethical standing), yet divine dispensation can also bestow dharma, fame, and longevity. It frames dharma as both vulnerable to wrongdoing and recoverable through higher moral/divine order.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana concludes a segment of the Meghavāhana narrative, stating that due to Indra’s curse a powerful figure lost dharma, but the Lord granted the speaker (or the focal character) dharma, eminent fame, and long life—serving as a closing moral summary to the episode.