Shloka 18
Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 181 — Svayaṃvara Aftermath: Arjuna–Karna Exchange and Bhīma–Śalya Contest
कल्माषपादं राजर्षिमशपद् ब्राह्मणी रुषा । यस्मान्ममाकृतार्थायास्त्वया क्षुद्र नृशंसवत्,इस प्रकार ब्राह्मगी करुण विलाप करती हुई याचना कर रही थी, तो भी जैसे व्याप्र मनचाहे मृगको मारकर खा जाता है, उसी प्रकार राजाने अत्यन्त निर्दयीकी भाँति ब्राह्यणीके पतिको खा लिया। उस समय क्रोधसे पीड़ित हुई ब्राह्मणीके नेत्रोंसे धरतीपर आँसुओंकी जो बूँदें गिरी, वे सब प्रज्वलित अग्नि बन गयीं। उस अग्निने उस स्थानको जलाकर भस्म कर दिया। तदनन्तर पतिके वियोगसे व्यथित एवं शोकसंतप्त ब्राह्मणीने रोषमें भरकर राजर्षि कल्माषपादको शाप दिया--'ओ नीच! मेरी पतिविषयक कामना अभी पूर्ण नहीं हो पायी थी, तभी तूने अत्यन्त क्रूरकी भाँति मेरे देखते-देखते आज मेरे महायशस्वी प्रियतम पतिको अपना ग्रास बना लिया है; अतः दुर्बुद्धे! तू भी मेरे शापसे पीड़ित हुआ ऋतुकालमें पत्नीके साथ समागम करते ही तत्काल प्राण त्याग देगा। जिन महर्षि वसिष्ठके पुत्रोंका तुमने संहार किया है, उन्हींसे समागम करके तेरी पत्नी पुत्र पैदा करेगी। नृूपाधम! वही पुत्र तेरा वंश चलानेवाला होगा”
gandharva uvāca | kalmāṣapādaṁ rājarṣim aśapad brāhmaṇī ruṣā | yasmān mamākṛtārthāyās tvayā kṣudra nṛśaṁsavat |
The Gandharva said: Enraged, the brahmin woman cursed the royal sage Kalmāṣapāda: “Because, O wretch, while my desire regarding my husband was still unfulfilled, you—acting with petty, ruthless cruelty—devoured my illustrious beloved before my very eyes. Therefore, by my curse, when you unite with your wife in the season of conception, you shall immediately lose your life. And the wife of yours will bear a son through union with those very sons of the great seer Vasiṣṭha whom you have slain; that son will continue your lineage.”
गन्धर्व उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage underscores moral causality: extreme cruelty, especially against the innocent and the dharmic (a brahmin household), invites immediate and proportionate retribution. It also highlights the power of truthful, grief-born speech (śāpa) as an ethical corrective when worldly power becomes predatory.
A brahmin woman, whose husband has been devoured by King Kalmāṣapāda, curses the king in wrath. The curse specifies that he will die upon sexual union with his wife during the fertile season, and that his lineage will continue through a son born to his wife via the sons of the sage Vasiṣṭha—those whom the king has wronged.