Jabali Bound on the Banyan Tree and Nandayanti’s Appeal at Sri-Kantha on the Yamuna
किं वा ते बहुनोक्तेन मा त्वं नाशं नराधिप गच्छस्व शुक्रशापेन सभृत्यज्ञातिबान्धवः
kiṃ vā te bahunoktena mā tvaṃ nāśaṃ narādhipa gacchasva śukraśāpena sabhṛtyajñātibāndhavaḥ
しかし多くを語って何になろう。おお人々の主よ、滅びへ赴くな——シュクラ(Śukra)の呪詛により、従者・親族・友を失うことのないように。
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Śukra (Uśanas) is the famed guru of the Daityas/Asuras, portrayed across Purāṇas as possessing formidable tapas and mantra-knowledge. A ‘śāpa’ from such a figure functions as an irreversible narrative force that can strip a king of support systems—army, allies, and kin.
It lists the social pillars of kingship: retainers (administrative/military), kin (dynastic backing), and allies/friends (political networks). The curse threatens not merely personal suffering but total collapse of sovereignty and social standing.
All three: morally it urges restraint; politically it warns of losing one’s base of power; supernaturally it invokes the Purāṇic principle that adharma or transgression against a potent sage/ācārya triggers catastrophic consequences.