Shloka 23

Śulka, Kanyā, and Dauhitra-Riktha: Discourse on Bride-Price and Inheritance Rights (शुल्क-कन्या-दौहित्र-रिक्थविचारः)

Devanagari script

मिथुनस्यास्य कि मे स्यात्‌ कृतं पापं यथा गति: । अनिष्टा सर्वभूतानां कीर्तितानेन मेडद्य वै

Transliteration

mithunasyāsya ki me syāt kṛtaṃ pāpaṃ yathā gatiḥ | aniṣṭā sarvabhūtānāṃ kīrtitānena medady vai ||

Translation

Bhishma said: “What sin have I committed that I should meet such a fate—one that is harmful to all beings—like the fate described here for this pair of man and woman, as has been recounted before me today?”

Word by Word

• मिथुनस्य: of the couple (pair)
• मिथुनस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: मिथुन
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• अस्य: of this / his
• अस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• किम्: what
• किम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: किम्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• मे: to me / for me
• मे: Sampradana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: —, Dative/Genitive, Singular

• स्यात्: might be / would be
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस्
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• कृतम्: done / committed
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• पापम्: sin, evil deed
• पापम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• यथा: as / in such a way that
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• गतिः: fate, course, end
• गतिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गति
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• अनिष्टा: undesirable, harmful
• अनिष्टा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनिष्ट
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• सर्वभूतानाम्: of all beings
• सर्वभूतानाम्: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्वभूत
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• कीर्तिता: described, proclaimed
• Type: Verb
• Root: कीर्तय्
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• अनेन: by this (person)
• अनेन: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• मेडद्य: Medadya (proper name)
• मेडद्य: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मेडद्य
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• वै: indeed, surely
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• mithuna (a man–woman couple)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds moral causality: one’s future ‘gati’ (destiny or post-mortem state) is shaped by one’s actions (pāpa/adharma). Bhishma’s question frames an ethical inquiry into what kinds of wrongdoing lead to a universally harmful, inauspicious fate.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma, responding to a description he has just heard about the grim fate allotted to a certain man–woman pair, reflects aloud and asks what sin could cause him to incur a similar, universally inauspicious destiny.