Shloka 49
कल्माषपाद-शाप-कारणम्
Cause of Kalmāṣapāda’s Niyoga under a Curse
गन्धर्व उवाच एवमासीन्महाभागा तपती नाम पौर्विकी । तव वैवस्वती पार्थ तापत्यस्त्वं यया मत:
Gandharva uvāca: evam āsīn mahābhāgā Tapatī nāma paurvikī | tava Vaivasvatī Pārtha Tāpatiḥ tvaṃ yayā mataḥ ||
Dijo el Gandharva: “Así fue: la ilustre dama llamada Tapatī, de linaje antiguo, llegó a ser esposa de tu antepasado Saṃvaraṇa. Era hija de Vivasvān, el Sol. Por ello, oh hijo de Pṛthā, se te tiene por ‘Tāpatya’, descendiente de Tapatī.”
गन्धर्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical weight of lineage in epic culture: one’s identity is tied to ancestral alliances and remembered marriages, and honorific epithets (like ‘Tāpatya’) preserve that moral and historical continuity.
A Gandharva explains why Arjuna is addressed as ‘Tāpatya’: Arjuna belongs to the line of Saṃvaraṇa, who married Tapatī, the Sun’s daughter; hence Arjuna is counted among Tapatī’s descendants.