Shloka 24
Garuḍa’s Breach of the Amṛta-Guard and Boons with Viṣṇu; Encounter with Indra (Ādi-parva, Adhyāya 29)
एवमन्योन्यशापात् तौ सुप्रतीकविभावसू । गजकच्छपतां प्राप्तावर्थार्थ मूढचेतसौ,इस प्रकार सुप्रतीक और विभावसु मुनि एक-दूसरेके शापसे हाथी और कछुएकी योनिमें पड़े हैं। धनके लिये उनके मनमें मोह छा गया था
evam anyonyaśāpāt tau supratīkavibhāvasū | gajakacchapatāṁ prāptāv arthārthaṁ mūḍhacetasau ||
Thus, through mutual curses, those two—Supratīka and Vibhāvasu—fell into the births of an elephant and a tortoise. Their minds had been deluded by the pursuit of wealth, and that infatuation became the moral cause behind their downfall.
कश्यप उवाच
Educational Q&A
Attachment to wealth (artha) can cloud discernment (moha), leading to unethical actions and severe consequences; the verse frames downfall as arising from moral delusion and the karmic force of mutual hostility expressed as curses.
Kaśyapa explains that Supratīka and Vibhāvasu, having cursed each other, were reborn in animal forms—one as an elephant and the other as a tortoise—because their minds were overcome by delusion in the pursuit of wealth.