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Shloka 59

Duḥṣantasya Vana-praveśaḥ

King Duḥṣanta’s Entry into the Forest Hunt

मीनभावमनुप्राप्ता बभूव यमुनाचरी । श्येनपादपरि भ्रष्ट तद्‌ वीर्यमथ वासवम्‌

mīna-bhāvam anuprāptā babhūva yamunā-carī | śyena-pāda-pari-bhraṣṭaṃ tad vīryam atha vāsavam |

ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。ヤムナーに住むアプサラスは、呪いによって魚の身となっていた。その時、鷹の爪からこぼれ落ちた強き精がヤムナーの水に落ちた。魚の姿のアドリカーは素早く寄って来て、その落ちた力を呑み込んだ。やがて十月が満ちると、漁夫たちはその魚を網にかけ、腹を裂いて、娘と息子とを取り出した。この挿話は、誕生と血統が個人の意図のみならず、宿命と神のはたらき、そして過去の行為の道徳的帰結(呪いなど)によっても形づくられることを示しつつ、俱盧の大叙事がダルマに沿って展開してゆく道筋へとつないでいる。

मीनभावम्the state of being a fish
मीनभावम्:
Karma
TypeNoun
Rootमीनभाव
FormMasculine, Accusative, Singular
अनुप्राप्ताhaving attained/reached
अनुप्राप्ता:
Karta
TypeVerb
Rootअनु-प्राप्
FormFeminine, Nominative, Singular, क्त (past passive participle)
बभूवbecame/was
बभूव:
TypeVerb
Rootभू
FormPerfect (लिट्), Third, Singular, Parasmaipada
यमुनाचरीone who dwelt/moved in the Yamunā
यमुनाचरी:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootयमुनाचरिन्
FormFeminine, Nominative, Singular
श्येनपादपरिfrom/at the hawk’s foot/claw (around the hawk’s foot)
श्येनपादपरि:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootश्येनपाद + परि
FormPreverb/Adverb (परि) with noun-compound base
भ्रष्टfallen/dropped
भ्रष्ट:
TypeVerb
Rootभ्रंश्
FormNeuter, Nominative, Singular, क्त (past passive participle)
तत्that
तत्:
TypePronoun
Rootतद्
FormNeuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular
वीर्यम्semen/virile essence
वीर्यम्:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootवीर्य
FormNeuter, Nominative, Singular
अथthen/now
अथ:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootअथ
FormParticle
वासवम्belonging to Vāsava (Indra)
वासवम्:
Viśeṣaṇa (of वीर्यम्)
TypeAdjective
Rootवासव
FormNeuter, Nominative, Singular

वैशम्पायन उवाच

V
Vaiśampāyana
Y
Yamunā (river)
A
Adrikā (Apsaras in fish-form)
Ś
Śyena (hawk)
V
Vāsava/Indra
F
Fishermen (matsyajīvinaḥ)

Educational Q&A

The passage highlights how outcomes in the epic arise from intertwined causes—past deeds (a curse), divine forces, and chance events—suggesting that dharmic history unfolds through complex moral and cosmic causality rather than simple individual intention.

Indra’s potent seed slips from a hawk’s talons into the Yamunā; Adrikā, an Apsaras living there in fish-form due to a curse, swallows it. After the term of pregnancy, fishermen catch and cut open the fish and find two infants—a girl and a boy.