Shloka 19

Devanagari script

वैशम्पायन उवाच न शशाक द्वितीयं सा प्रत्याख्यातुमनिन्दिता । त॑ं वै द्विजातिप्रवरं तदा शापभयान्नूप,वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--राजन्‌! साध्वी पृथा दूसरी बार उन श्रेष्ठ ब्राह्यणकी बात न टाल सकी; क्योंकि वैसा करनेपर उसे उनके शापका भय था

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca: na śaśāka dvitīyaṃ sā pratyākhyātum aninditā | taṃ vai dvijāti-pravaraṃ tadā śāpa-bhayān nṛpa ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: The blameless Pṛthā could not refuse him a second time, O king; for at that moment she feared the curse of that foremost among the twice-born.

Word by Word

वैशम्पायनःVaiśampāyana

उवाचsaid

नnot

शशाकwas able

द्वितीयम्a second time / secondly

साshe

प्रत्याख्यातुम्to refuse / to reject

अनिन्दिताblameless

तम्him

वैindeed

द्विजाति-प्रवरम्the foremost among the twice-born

तदाthen

शाप-भयात्from fear of a curse

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Pṛthā (Kuntī)

nṛpa (the king, i.e., Janamejaya as listener)

dvijāti-pravara (an eminent brahmin)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the dharmic expectation to respect and not lightly refuse a revered brahmin, emphasizing how social-religious norms and fear of a sage’s curse can compel compliance even when one might wish to decline.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates that Pṛthā (Kuntī) is unable to refuse the request of an eminent brahmin a second time, because she fears the consequences of provoking his curse.