Shloka 49

Nakula’s Declaration and the Uñchavṛtti Brāhmaṇa’s Superior Merit (Āśvamedhika Parva, Adhyāya 92)

Devanagari script

इत्युक्तो जातसंत्रासस्तत्रैवान्तरधीयत । पितृणामभिषड्जाच्च नकुलत्वमुपागत:,मुनिके ऐसा कहनेपर क्रोधरूपधारी धर्म भयभीत हो वहाँसे अदृश्य हो गये और पितरोंके शापसे उन्हें नेवला होना पड़ा

Transliteration

ity ukto jāta-saṁtrāsas tatraivāntaradhīyata | pitṝṇām abhiṣaḍjāc ca nakulatvam upāgataḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: Thus addressed, Dharma—assuming a wrathful form—became seized with fear and vanished on the very spot. And, due to the curse of the Pitṛs (the ancestral Fathers), he came to assume the state of a mongoose.

Word by Word

इतिthus

उक्तःhaving been spoken to / addressed

जात-संत्रासःone whose fear arose; frightened

तत्रthere

एवindeed / just

अन्तरधीयतdisappeared / became invisible

पितृणाम्of the Pitṛs (manes/ancestors)

अभिषड्जात्from the curse (imprecation)

चand

नकुलत्वम्mongoose-hood; the state of being a mongoose

उपागतःattained / came to

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Dharma

Pitṛs (ancestral Fathers)

nakula (mongoose)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights accountability to moral-ritual order: disrespect or conflict involving the Pitṛs can bring binding consequences, and even a figure associated with Dharma is portrayed as subject to fear and to the results of a curse—emphasizing that ethical and ancestral obligations carry real force.

What is happening in the narrative?

After being addressed, Dharma—described as taking on a wrathful form—becomes frightened and vanishes on the spot. Subsequently, because of the Pitṛs’ curse, he attains the form/state of a mongoose (nakula).