Shloka 64
Duḥṣantasya Vana-praveśaḥ
King Duḥṣanta’s Entry into the Forest Hunt
साप्सरा मुक्तशापा च क्षणेन समपद्यत । या पुरोक्ता भगवता तिर्यग्योनिगता शुभा
sāpsarā muktśāpā ca kṣaṇena samapadyata | yā puroktā bhagavatā tiryagyonigatā śubhā ||
Vaiśampāyana said: In an instant she became an Apsaras again, released from the curse—the auspicious one who had earlier been spoken of by the Blessed Lord as having fallen into an animal womb. The moment underscores the moral logic of the epic: a curse may bind, but when its condition is fulfilled, restoration follows swiftly and order is re-established.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical causality central to the Mahābhārata: consequences such as a curse can bind a being to suffering or lower birth, yet when the ordained condition is met, release and restoration occur immediately—affirming moral order (dharma) and the possibility of return to one’s rightful state.
The narrator states that the woman—previously described as having fallen into an animal birth due to a curse—instantly regains her original identity as an Apsaras once the curse is lifted, marking a sudden transformation from constrained existence back to celestial status.