Shloka 76
Śrāddha-Kalpa: Pitṛ-Pūjā and Tithi-Phala (श्राद्धकल्पः पितृपूजा च तिथिफलम्)
पावकस्तु न तत्रासीच्छापकाले भृगूद्धह | देवा देव्यास्तथा शापादनपत्यास्ततो5भवन्,भुगुश्रेष्ठ उस शापके समय वहाँ अग्निदेव नहीं थे; अतः उनपर यह शाप लागू नहीं हुआ। अन्य सब देवता देवीके शापसे संतानहीन हो गये
pāvakastu na tatrāsīc chāpakāle bhṛgūddhaha | devā devyās tathā śāpād anapatyās tato 'bhavan ||
Bhīṣma said: “But Pāvaka (Agni) was not present there when the curse was pronounced, O foremost of the Bhṛgus; therefore that curse did not take effect upon him. All the other gods, however, by the goddess’s curse, thereafter became without offspring.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how consequences (such as a curse) are conditioned by presence, participation, and the precise circumstances of an act. Moral and ritual causality in the epic is not indiscriminate: responsibility and result attach according to one’s involvement, while others may still bear the full effect.
Bhīṣma explains that when the goddess pronounced a curse, Agni (Pāvaka) was not present, so the curse did not apply to him. The remaining gods, however, were affected and consequently became childless.