Shloka 9

Devaśarmā–Vipula Dialogue on Ahorātra–Ṛtu as Moral Witnesses (अनुशासन पर्व, अध्याय ४३)

Devanagari script

असाध्व्यस्तु समुत्पन्ना: कृत्या: सर्गात्‌ प्रजापते: । ताभ्य: कामान्‌ यथाकामं प्रादाद्धि स पितामह:

Transliteration

asādhvyaḥ tu samutpannāḥ kṛtyāḥ sargāt prajāpateḥ | tābhyaḥ kāmān yathākāmaṃ prādād dhi sa pitāmahaḥ, kuntīnandana |

Translation

Bhīṣma said: “But the unrighteous women—those of the ‘kṛtyā’ type—arose from Prajāpati’s later act of creation. To them, that Grandfather (Prajāpati) indeed granted impulses of desire according to their own wishes, O son of Kuntī.”

Word by Word

• {'asādhvyaḥ': 'unrighteous, not virtuous (feminine plural)', 'tu': 'but, however', 'samutpannāḥ': 'arisen, originated', 'kṛtyāḥ': 'women of harmful/inauspicious nature

• ‘kṛtyā’ also denotes a malevolent rite/entity (here used as a type/label)', 'sargāt': 'from creation, from the act/process of creating', 'prajāpateḥ': 'of Prajāpati (the Lord of creatures, progenitor)', 'tābhyaḥ': 'to them (dative plural feminine)', 'kāmān': 'desires, impulses of passion', 'yathākāmam': 'according to one’s wish

• as desired', 'prādāt': 'gave, granted', 'hi': 'indeed, for', 'sa': 'he', 'pitāmahaḥ': 'the Grandfather

• an epithet of the progenitor (here Prajāpati)', 'kuntīnandana': 'O son of Kuntī (address to Yudhiṣṭhira)'}

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Prajāpati
• Pitāmaha (epithet of Prajāpati here)
• Kuntīnandana (Yudhiṣṭhira)