Shloka 49
Nakula’s Declaration and the Uñchavṛtti Brāhmaṇa’s Superior Merit (Āśvamedhika Parva, Adhyāya 92)
इत्युक्तो जातसंत्रासस्तत्रैवान्तरधीयत । पितृणामभिषड्जाच्च नकुलत्वमुपागत:,मुनिके ऐसा कहनेपर क्रोधरूपधारी धर्म भयभीत हो वहाँसे अदृश्य हो गये और पितरोंके शापसे उन्हें नेवला होना पड़ा
ity ukto jāta-saṁtrāsas tatraivāntaradhīyata | pitṝṇām abhiṣaḍjāc ca nakulatvam upāgataḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Thus addressed, Dharma—assuming a wrathful form—became seized with fear and vanished on the very spot. And, due to the curse of the Pitṛs (the ancestral Fathers), he came to assume the state of a mongoose. The episode underscores how even a figure identified with Dharma is shown as constrained by higher moral-ritual forces (the Pitṛs) and by the consequences that follow from provoking them.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights accountability to moral-ritual order: disrespect or conflict involving the Pitṛs can bring binding consequences, and even a figure associated with Dharma is portrayed as subject to fear and to the results of a curse—emphasizing that ethical and ancestral obligations carry real force.
After being addressed, Dharma—described as taking on a wrathful form—becomes frightened and vanishes on the spot. Subsequently, because of the Pitṛs’ curse, he attains the form/state of a mongoose (nakula).