Shloka 23

Devanagari script

अपराधकश्ष ते नास्ति कन्याभावं॑ गता हाूसि । देवाश्नैश्वर्यवन्तो वै शरीराण्याविशन्ति वै,मनुष्यधर्मो दैवेन धर्मेण हि न दुष्पति । इति कुन्ति विजानीहि व्येतु ते मानसो ज्वर: “कुन्ती! देवधर्मके द्वारा मनुष्यधर्म दूषित नहीं होता, इस बातको जान लो। अब तुम्हारी मानसिक चिन्ता दूर हो जानी चाहिये

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | aparādhakaś ca te nāsti kanyābhāvaṃ gatā hy asi | devā aiśvaryavanto vai śarīrāṇy āviśanti vai | manuṣyadharmo daivena dharmeṇa hi na duṣyati | iti kunti vijānīhi vyetu te mānaso jvaraḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Du trägst keine Schuld, denn du warst im Stand der Jungfrau. Die Götter, mit souveräner Macht begabt, können wahrlich in Körper eingehen. Menschliche Pflicht wird durch göttliches Gesetz nicht befleckt. Wisse dies, Kuntī—möge das Fieber deines Geistes, deine angstvolle Qual, vergehen.“

Word by Word

{'vaiśampāyana uvāca''Vaiśampāyana said', 'aparādhakaḥ': 'one at fault

offender', 'te''of you

to you', 'nāsti''is not', 'kanyābhāvam': 'the state of maidenhood

virgin condition', 'gatā''having reached

having attained', 'asi''you are', 'devāḥ': 'the gods', 'aiśvaryavantaḥ': 'possessed of lordly power

sovereign, mighty', 'śarīrāṇi''bodies', 'āviśanti': 'enter

pervade', 'manuṣyadharmaḥ''human duty

the moral law governing humans', 'daivena dharmeṇa''by divine law/ordinance

by the gods’ dharma', 'na duṣyati''is not corrupted

is not defiled', 'iti''thus', 'kunti': 'O Kuntī', 'vijānīhi': 'know

understand', 'vyetu''let it depart

let it be removed', 'mānasaḥ''mental

of the mind', 'jvaraḥ''fever

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Kuntī

Devas (the gods)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that Kuntī bears no moral blame: when divine agency operates (the gods entering bodies), human dharma is not ‘polluted’ by the gods’ dharma. It reframes her anxiety as misplaced guilt and urges inner release.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Āśramavāsika context, Kuntī is being reassured about her past—specifically, that circumstances involving divine intervention do not make her culpable. The speaker instructs her to understand this and let her mental anguish subside.