Shloka 17

Devanagari script

अपापचेतसं पापो य एवं कृतवान्‌ नलम्‌ | तस्माद्‌ दुःखतरं प्राप्प जीवत्वसुखजीविकाम्‌,“जिस पापीने पुण्यात्मा राजा नलको इस दशामें पहुँचाया है, वह उनसे भी भारी दुःखमें पड़कर दुःखकी ही जिंदगी बितावे”

Transliteration

apāpacetasaṃ pāpo ya evaṃ kṛtavān nalam | tasmād duḥkhataraṃ prāpya jīvatv asukhajīvikām ||

Translation

Bṛhadaśva said: “That sinful one who has brought the blameless-minded King Nala to such a condition shall, in consequence, fall into suffering even more grievous than this and live on, sustaining a life that is itself nothing but misery.”

Word by Word

अपापचेतसम्one whose mind is sinless (pure-minded)

पापःthe sinful (man)

यःwho

एवम्thus, in this manner

कृतवान्did, has done

नलम्Nala

तस्मात्from him/therefore (than him)

दुःखतरम्greater misery, more painful (state)

प्राप्पhaving obtained / will obtain (uncertain reading)

जीवत्वhaving lived / living

सुखजीविकाम्a life/livelihood of happiness (easy living)

Speaker

ब॒हृदश्चव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bṛhadaśva

Nala

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 asserts a moral law of karma: harming a virtuous, innocent-minded person leads the wrongdoer to even greater suffering, implying that ethical violations rebound upon the agent with intensified consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Bṛhadaśva’s narration of Nala’s story, he condemns the agent responsible for reducing King Nala—described as pure-minded—to a wretched state, and foretells that the perpetrator will later endure a harsher, joyless life as retribution.