Shloka 14
Ādi-parva Adhyāya 97: Satyavatī’s appeal and Bhīṣma’s reaffirmation of satya
संध्यां वसिष्ठमासीनं तमत्यभिसूता: पुरा । तेन कोपाद् वयं शप्ता योनौ सम्भवतेति ह
sandhyāṃ vasiṣṭham āsīnaṃ tam atyabhisūtāḥ purā | tena kopād vayaṃ śaptā yonau sambhavateti ha ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana dit : «Autrefois, tandis que le sage Vasiṣṭha était assis à l’heure du rite du crépuscule, nous nous conduisîmes envers lui avec une indécence grave. Alors, dans sa colère, il nous maudit en disant : “Vous naîtrez d’un ventre.”»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores dharma through the ethic of reverence: disrespect toward a spiritually eminent person—especially during sacred observance—brings serious consequences. It also highlights moral causality (karma-like linkage) where wrongful conduct leads to a corrective or punitive outcome.
Vaiśampāyana recounts a past incident in which certain beings (speaking as 'we') insulted the sage Vasiṣṭha while he was seated for Sandhyā. Angered, Vasiṣṭha pronounced a curse that they would be born through a womb, marking a fall into embodied, ordinary birth.