Shloka 157
Ādi-parva Adhyāya 3 — Janamejaya’s Rite, Dhaumya’s Parīkṣā, and Uttanka’s Kuṇḍala Quest (सर्पसत्रप्रस्तावना–गुरुपरीक्षा–उत्तङ्कोपाख्यान)
स तथेत्युक्त्वा तमश्वमधिरुह्य प्रत्याजगामोपाध्यायकुलमुपाध्यायानी च स्नाता केशानावापयन्त्युपविष्टोत्तड़को नागच्छतीति शापायास्य मनो दथे,“बहुत अच्छा” कहकर उत्तंक उस घोड़ेपर चढ़े और तुरंत उपाध्यायके घर आ पहुँचे। इधर गुरुपत्नी स्नान करके बैठी हुई अपने केश सँवार रही थीं। “उत्तंक अबतक नहीं आया'--यह सोचकर उन्होंने शिष्यको शाप देनेका विचार कर लिया
sa tathety uktvā tam aśvam adhiruhya pratyājagāmopādhyāyakulam; upādhyāyānī ca snātā keśān āvāpayanty upaviṣṭottanko nāgacchatīti śāpāyāsya mano dadhe.
Saying, “So be it,” Uttanka mounted that horse and at once returned to his teacher’s household. Meanwhile the teacher’s wife, having bathed, sat down and began arranging her hair. Thinking, “Uttanka has not come even now,” she set her mind on cursing the disciple. The passage highlights the ethical tension between a student’s duty to fulfill a commission promptly and the grave consequences of a teacher’s household acting in anger or impatience.
राम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how dharma in a teacher’s household depends on timely fulfillment of duty and, equally, on restraint: impatience and anger—especially when backed by spiritual authority—can lead to disproportionate harm through a curse.
Uttanka agrees, mounts a horse, and quickly returns to his teacher’s home. The teacher’s wife, after bathing and grooming, notices his continued absence and, believing he has delayed, forms the intention to curse him.