Shloka 45
नियोगप्रसङ्गः — The Niyoga Episode: Births of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Pāṇḍu, and Vidura
अयं शापादृषेस्तस्य एक एव नृपोत्तम | द्यौ राजन मानुषे लोके चिरं वत्स्यति भारत,भारत! नृपश्रेष्ठ) यह एकमात्र द्यो ही महर्षिके शापसे दीर्घकालतक मनुष्यलोकमें निवास करेगा
ayaṁ śāpād ṛṣes tasya eka eva nṛpottama | dyau rājan mānuṣe loke ciraṁ vatsyati bhārata bhārata |
Vaiśampāyana said: “O best of kings, because of that seer’s curse, this Dyau alone will dwell for a long time in the human world, O Bhārata.” The statement underscores the moral force attributed to a ṛṣi’s utterance: a king’s fate can be bound to the ethical-spiritual authority of ascetic speech, and prolonged earthly life here is framed not as a boon but as the consequence of a curse.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical-spiritual potency of a ṛṣi’s curse: moral authority grounded in tapas and truthfulness is portrayed as capable of shaping worldly destiny, even for the high-born. It also implies that extended life on earth can be a punitive consequence when tied to a curse.
Vaiśampāyana explains to the listener addressed as Bhārata that, due to an earlier curse pronounced by a seer, the figure named Dyau—alone among those involved—will remain in the human realm for a long time.