Shloka 39

Devanagari script

एवं तेनापि कौन्तेय वाग्दोषाद्‌ देवताज्ञया । प्राप्ता गतिरथस्तात्‌ तु द्विजशापान्महात्मना,कुन्तीनन्दन! इस प्रकार उस महामनस्वी नरेशने भी देवताओंकी आज्ञासे वाचिक अपराध करनेके कारण ब्राह्मणोंके शापसे अधोगति प्राप्त की थी

Transliteration

evaṁ tenāpi kaunteya vāgdoṣād devatājñayā | prāptā gatir athas tāta tu dvijaśāpān mahātmanā ||

Translation

Bhīṣma sprach: „So erging es auch, o Sohn der Kuntī: auf Geheiß der Götter zog jener großherzige König durch einen Fehler der Rede den Fluch der Zweimalgeborenen (der Brāhmaṇas) auf sich und fiel dadurch in einen niedrigeren Zustand. So kann selbst ein Augenblick verbaler Verfehlung—zumal gegen Ehrwürdige—das Geschick umstürzen.“

Word by Word

एवम्thus, in this manner

तेनby him/it; thereby

अपिalso, even

कौन्तेयO son of Kuntī

वाक्-दोषात्from (because of) a fault of speech

देवता-आज्ञयाby the command of the deities

प्राप्ताattained/obtained

गतिःstate, course, destiny

अथthen/now (connecting particle)

तातO dear one/son

तुbut, indeed

द्विज-शापात्from (because of) the curse of the twice-born (Brahmins)

महात्मनाby the great-souled one

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Kaunteya (son of Kuntī)

Devatāḥ (the gods)

Dvijāḥ (brāhmaṇas/twice-born)

Unnamed great-souled king

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that careless or wrongful speech (vāgdoṣa), especially toward venerable persons like brāhmaṇas, can bring severe karmic consequences; words are ethically potent and can determine one’s gati (destiny).

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma cites an illustrative precedent: even a great king, acting under a divine ordinance, committed a verbal offence and consequently suffered a brāhmaṇa’s curse leading to a degraded fate—used to warn the listener (Kaunteya) about restraint and respect in speech.