Shloka 31
Atithi’s Direction to the Nāga-sage Padma at Naimiṣa (अतिथ्युपदेशः—नैमिषे पद्मनागोपाख्यानप्रस्तावः)
हैरण्यगर्भाच्च वसिष्ठाद्धिरण्यकशिपु: शापं प्राप्तवान् यस्मात् त्वयान्यो वृतो होता तस्मादसमाप्त-यज्ञस्त्वमपूर्वात् सत्त्वजातादू वर्धं प्राप्स्यसीति तच्छापदानाद्धिरण्यकशिपु: प्राप्तवान् वधम्,(हिरण्यकशिपुने उन्हें अपना होता बना लिया) इधर ब्रह्माजीके पुत्र वसिष्ठकी ओरसे हिरण्यकशिपुको शाप प्राप्त हुआ--“तुमने मेरी अवहेलना करके दूसरा होता चुन लिया है; इसलिये इस यज्ञकी समाप्ति होनेसे पहले ही किसी अभूतपूर्व प्राणीके हाथसे तुम्हारा वध हो जायगा।” वसिष्ठजीके वैसा शाप देनेसे हिरण्यकशिपु वधको प्राप्त हुआ
hairaṇyagarbhācca vasiṣṭāddhiraṇyakaśipuḥ śāpaṃ prāptavān yasmāt tvayānyo vṛto hotā tasmādasamāpta-yajñas tvam apūrvāt sattvajātād ūrdhvaṃ prāpsyasīti tacchāpadānāddhiraṇyakaśipuḥ prāptavān vadham
Arjuna said: Hiraṇyakaśipu incurred a curse from Vasiṣṭha, the son of Brahmā (Hiraṇyagarbha), because he disregarded Vasiṣṭha and chose another priest to serve as hotṛ. Therefore Vasiṣṭha declared: “Since you have selected a different hotṛ, before this sacrifice is completed you will meet death at the hands of an unprecedented being.” By the force of that curse, Hiraṇyakaśipu came to his destined slaying.
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Disrespect toward a rightful spiritual authority and disruption of dharmic ritual order (yajña) generate consequences that return with certainty; moral-ritual transgression ripens into fate.
Arjuna recounts that Hiraṇyakaśipu, after choosing another hotṛ and slighting Vasiṣṭha, receives a curse that he will be killed before the sacrifice ends by an unprecedented being; the curse becomes the cause of his eventual death.