Shloka 6
Ādi-parva Adhyāya 97: Satyavatī’s appeal and Bhīṣma’s reaffirmation of satya
सो<5पध्यातो भगवता ब्रह्मणा तु महाभिष: । उक्तश्न जातो मर्त्येषु पुनलोकानवाप्स्यसि,तब भगवान् ब्रह्माने महाभिषको शाप देते हुए कहा--दुर्मते! तुम मनुष्योंमें जन्म लेकर फिर पुण्यलोकोंमें आओगे। जिस गंगाने तुम्हारे चित्तको चुरा लिया है, वही मनुष्यलोकमें तुम्हारे प्रतिकूल आचरण करेगी
so 'padhyāto bhagavatā brahmaṇā tu mahābhiṣaḥ | uktaś ca jāto martyeṣu punar lokān avāpsyasi ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Then the venerable Brahmā, having pronounced a curse upon Mahābhiṣa, declared, “You shall be born among mortals, and thereafter you will regain the higher worlds.” In the narrative’s moral frame, the fall from heaven is not sheer annihilation but a corrective consequence: a lapse of restraint leads to human birth, and the return to blessed realms is made possible through enduring the ordained result of one’s act.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even exalted beings are bound by moral order: a lapse invites consequence (human birth), yet the consequence is also corrective—after undergoing it, one may regain higher states. The verse underscores accountability and the possibility of restoration through bearing karmic results.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that Brahmā curses Mahābhiṣa, decreeing that he must be born among humans; after that mortal life, he will again attain the higher worlds.