Shloka 19

Ādi-parva Adhyāya 97: Satyavatī’s appeal and Bhīṣma’s reaffirmation of satya

Devanagari script

वसव ऊचु. जातान्‌ कुमारान्‌ स्वानप्सु प्रक्षेप्तुं वै त्वमहसि । यथा न चिरकाल नो निष्कृतिः स्यात्‌ त्रिलोकगे,वसुगण बोले--तीनों लोकोंमें प्रवाहित होनेवाली गंगे! हमलोग जब तुम्हारे गर्भसे जन्म लें, तब तुम पैदा होते ही हमें अपने जलमें फेंक देना; जिससे शीघ्र ही हमारा मर्त्यलोकसे छुटकारा हो जाय

Transliteration

vasava ūcuḥ | jātān kumārān svān apsu prakṣeptuṃ vai tvam arhasi | yathā na cirakāla no niṣkṛtiḥ syāt trilokage ||

Translation

The Vasus said: “O you who move through the three worlds! When our sons are born from your womb, you must cast us into the waters at once, so that our expiation may not be delayed and we may quickly be released from mortal existence.”

Word by Word

• {'vasavaḥ': 'the Vasus (a group of eight Vedic deities)', 'ūcuḥ': 'said (perfect tense, 3rd person plural)', 'jātān': 'born, having been born', 'kumārān': 'sons, young boys', 'svān': 'our own', 'apsu': 'in the waters', 'prakṣeptum': 'to throw, to cast (infinitive)', 'vai': 'indeed, surely (emphatic particle)', 'tvam': 'you', 'arhasi': 'you ought to, you are fit/required to', 'yathā': 'so that, in such a way that', 'na': 'not', 'cirakālam': 'for a long time, long delay', 'naḥ': 'for us, our', 'niṣkṛtiḥ': 'expiation, release from sin

• means of atonement', 'syāt': 'may be, might occur (optative)', 'trilokage': 'O one who goes through the three worlds (epithet, vocative)'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vasus (Vasavaḥ)
• Gaṅgā (implied by trilokagā/trilokage and context)
• waters (āpas)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the idea of niṣkṛti (expiation): even divine beings bound by a curse seek swift completion of karmic consequence, showing that moral causality operates universally and that timely atonement is valued.

What is happening in the narrative?

The Vasus, destined to be born as mortals due to a curse, instruct Gaṅgā that as soon as they are born from her, she should cast them into the river so they can quickly be freed from their mortal bondage and complete their expiation.