Shloka 51

सरस्वतीतीर्थानुक्रमः — बलरामस्य तीर्थयात्रा

Sarasvatī Tīrtha Itinerary — Balarāma’s Pilgrimage

Devanagari script

तस्माद्‌ वृकाकृती रौद्रौ दंष्टिणावभितश्चरौ । भवितारौ मया शप्तौ पापेनानेन कर्मणा

Transliteration

tasmād vṛkākṛtī raudrau daṃṣṭiṇāv abhitaś carau | bhavitārau mayā śaptau pāpenānena karmaṇā ||

Translation

Therefore, you two—wolf-shaped, fierce, and fanged, roaming on every side—are destined to become so, for I have cursed you because of this sinful deed.

Word by Word

तस्मात्therefore/from that (reason)

वृकाकृतीwolf-shaped (two)

रौद्रौfierce/terrible (two)

दंष्टिणौhaving fangs (two)

अभितःaround/on both sides

चरौthey move/roam

भवितारौthe two who will become / future ones

मयाby me

शप्तौcursed (two)

पापेनby/with sin

अनेनby this

कर्मणाby the deed/action

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

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 the ethical principle that sinful action (pāpa-karma) brings binding consequences: a curse functions as a moral instrument through which wrongdoing ripens into an altered and painful future state.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana reports that two beings are described as wolf-formed and fearsome, roaming about; their condition is explicitly linked to a curse pronounced by the speaker as retribution for a particular sinful act.