Shloka 49

Nakula’s Declaration and the Uñchavṛtti Brāhmaṇa’s Superior Merit (Āśvamedhika Parva, Adhyāya 92)

Devanagari script

इत्युक्तो जातसंत्रासस्तत्रैवान्तरधीयत । पितृणामभिषड्जाच्च नकुलत्वमुपागत:,मुनिके ऐसा कहनेपर क्रोधरूपधारी धर्म भयभीत हो वहाँसे अदृश्य हो गये और पितरोंके शापसे उन्हें नेवला होना पड़ा

Transliteration

ity ukto jāta-saṁtrāsas tatraivāntaradhīyata | pitṝṇām abhiṣaḍjāc ca nakulatvam upāgataḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: So angesprochen, geriet Dharma—der eine zornige Gestalt angenommen hatte—in Furcht und verschwand auf der Stelle. Und durch den Fluch der Pitṛs, der Ahnenväter, nahm er den Zustand einer Manguste an.

Word by Word

इतिthus

उक्तःhaving been spoken to / addressed

जात-संत्रासःone whose fear arose; frightened

तत्रthere

एवindeed / just

अन्तरधीयतdisappeared / became invisible

पितृणाम्of the Pitṛs (manes/ancestors)

अभिषड्जात्from the curse (imprecation)

चand

नकुलत्वम्mongoose-hood; the state of being a mongoose

उपागतःattained / came to

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Dharma

Pitṛs (ancestral Fathers)

nakula (mongoose)

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?

The verse highlights accountability to moral-ritual order: disrespect or conflict involving the Pitṛs can bring binding consequences, and even a figure associated with Dharma is portrayed as subject to fear and to the results of a curse—emphasizing that ethical and ancestral obligations carry real force.

What is happening in the narrative?

After being addressed, Dharma—described as taking on a wrathful form—becomes frightened and vanishes on the spot. Subsequently, because of the Pitṛs’ curse, he attains the form/state of a mongoose (nakula).