Shloka 6

Devanagari script

सोडहं द्विजेभ्य: प्रणतो विप्राद्‌ दोषमवाप्तवान्‌ | गतिमन्यां न पश्यामि मदयन्तीसहायवान्‌,मैं सदा ही ब्राह्मणोंकी प्रणाम किया करता था, किंतु एक ब्राह्मणके ही शापसे मुझे यह दोष--यह दुर्गति प्राप्त हुई है। मैं मदयन्तीके साथ यहाँ रहता हूँ, मुझे इस दुर्गतिसे छुटकारा पानेका कोई उपाय नहीं दिखायी देता

Transliteration

so 'haṃ dvijebhyaḥ praṇato viprād doṣam avāptavān | gatim anyāṃ na paśyāmi madayantī-sahāyavān ||

Translation

Saudāsa said: “Though I have always bowed in reverence to the twice-born, it is from a single brāhmaṇa’s curse that I have incurred this taint and fallen into this wretched condition. Here I remain with Madayantī as my companion, yet I see no other path—no means of release—from this calamity.”

Word by Word

{"so 'ham"'I indeed

I myself', 'dvijebhyaḥ''to the twice-born (especially brāhmaṇas)

dative plural of dvija', 'praṇataḥ''bowed down, reverent, prostrated', 'viprāt': 'from a brāhmaṇa

ablative singular of vipra', 'doṣam''fault, taint, blemish

herea curse-born affliction', 'avāptavān': 'has obtained, has incurred, has come to suffer', 'gatim': 'course, state, destiny

herecondition/lot', 'anyām': 'another, alternative', 'na paśyāmi': 'I do not see (i.e., I find no way)', 'madayantī-sahāyavān': 'having Madayantī as helper/companion

Speaker

सौदास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Saudāsa

Madayantī

brāhmaṇa (vipra)

dvija (twice-born)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even habitual reverence toward the righteous (dvijas) does not automatically cancel the moral and karmic force of a grave transgression; a brāhmaṇa’s curse is portrayed as ethically potent, and the verse highlights accountability and the search for expiation when one has fallen into doṣa (taint).

What is happening in the narrative?

King Saudāsa laments that despite his customary respect for brāhmaṇas, he has been afflicted by a brāhmaṇa’s curse and now endures a degraded condition; with Madayantī beside him, he confesses he sees no clear means of deliverance from this misfortune.