Shloka 17

Devanagari script

जग्राह वध्या देवेन्द्र सुलगना चाभवत्‌ तदा । स हि तस्मिन्‌ समुत्पन्ने ब्रह्म॒वध्याकृते भये

Transliteration

jagrāha vadhyā devendra sulagnā cābhavat tadā | sa hi tasmin samutpanne brahmavadhyākṛte bhaye

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: „Da ergriff Indra der Fluch der Brahmahatyā — die Sünde des Brahma-Mordes, bestimmt, ihr Ziel zu treffen — und klammerte sich fest an ihn. Denn als jene Furcht, geboren aus der Tat des Brāhmaṇa-Mordes, aufstieg, hielt sie ihn umfangen.“

Word by Word

जग्राहseized, took hold

वध्याto be slain / fit to be killed

देवेन्द्रO Indra (lord of the gods)

सुलगनाclosely attached / clinging

चand

अभवत्became, was

तदाthen

सःhe

हिindeed, for

तस्मिन्in that (situation/person)

समुत्पन्नेarisen, having occurred

ब्रह्मवध्याकृतेcaused by brahma-slaying (brahmahatyā)

भयेin fear

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Indra (Devendra)

Brahmahatyā (fear/curse born of Brahmin-slaying)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even the highest authority is not exempt from moral causality: a grave transgression like Brahmin-slaying generates an inescapable fear/taint (Brahmahatyā) that ‘clings’ to the doer until addressed through rightful means.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma describes the moment when the fear/curse arising from Brahmahatyā manifests and attaches itself to Indra, portraying the transgression’s immediate ethical and psychological consequence as something that seizes and adheres to its agent.