Shloka 6

Adhyaya 72 — The Reconciliation Rite, Sarasvati Sacrifice, and the Birth of Uttama Manu (Auttama Manvantara Prelude)

Sanskrit

ब्राह्मण उवाच यदि जीवति ते भार्या न चैव व्यभिचारिणी ।

तदपत्नी कताजन्म किं पापं क्रियते त्वया ॥

Transliteration

brāhmaṇa uvāca yadi jīvati te bhāryā na caiva vyabhicāriṇī | tadapatnīkatājanma kiṃ pāpaṃ kriyate tvayā ||

Translation

ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ನಿನ್ನ ಪತ್ನಿ ಜೀವಂತಳಿದ್ದು ಅವಿಶ್ವಾಸಿನಿಯಲ್ಲದಿದ್ದರೆ, ನೀನು ಯಾವ ಪಾಪವನ್ನು ಮಾಡಿದೆಯೋ ಅದರಿಂದ ನೀನು ಪತ್ನಿಹೀನನಂತೆ ಆಗಿರುವೆ?

Word by Word

• brāhmaṇaḥ: the brahmin
• brāhmaṇaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brāhmaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (प्रथमा/1), Singular (एकवचन)

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु)
• Form: Perfect (लिट्), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन)

• yadi: if
• yadi: Upapada (उपपद/condition marker)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yadi (अव्यय)
• Form: Conditional indeclinable (शर्त-अव्यय)

• jīvati: lives
• jīvati: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: jīv (धातु)
• Form: Present (लट्), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन)

• te: your
• te: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yusmad (प्रातिपदik)
• Form: Pronoun (सर्वनाम), Genitive (षष्ठी/6), Singular (एकवचन)

• bhāryā: wife
• bhāryā: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhāryā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Nominative (प्रथमा/1), Singular (एकवचन)

• na: not
• na: Pratiṣedha (प्रतिषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: Negation particle (निषेध-अव्यय)

• ca: and
• ca: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction (समुच्चय-अव्यय)

• eva: indeed
• eva: Avadhāraṇa (अवधारण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: Emphatic particle (अवधारण-निपात)

• vyabhicāriṇī: unchaste / adulterous
• vyabhicāriṇī: Kartṛ-samānādhikaraṇa (कर्तृसमानाधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vyabhicārinī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Nominative (प्रथमा/1), Singular (एकवचन); विशेषण of bhāryā

• tad: then
• tad: Sambandha-bodhaka (सम्बन्ध/निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Correlative particle (तद्-निपात) introducing consequence (‘then’)

• apatnī-katā-janma: (this) making (her) wife-less / the act of rejecting the wife (lit. wife-less-making)
• apatnī-katā-janma: Kartṛ-samānādhikaraṇa (कर्तृसमानाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: a-patnī + katā + janman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (प्रथमा/1), Singular (एकवचन); complex compound used as predicate-noun

• kim: what?
• kim: Prashna (प्रश्न)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Interrogative pronoun (किम्), Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (द्वितीया/2), Singular (एकवचन)

• pāpam: sin
• pāpam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (द्वितीया/2), Singular (एकवचन)

• kriyate: is done/committed
• kriyate: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kṛ (धातु)
• Form: Present (लट्), Passive voice (कर्मणि), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन)

• tvayā: by you
• tvayā: Kartṛ (कर्ता; in passive expressed by instrumental)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yusmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun (सर्वनाम), Instrumental (तृतीया/3), Singular (एकवचन)

Speakers

• Brāhmaṇa to King

Key Themes

• Karma and consequence
• Marital duty
• Moral accountability
• Dharma inquiry

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The brāhmaṇa forces self-examination: if no fault lies in the wife, the ‘wife-less’ condition must be traced to one’s own actions, attitudes, or failures in dharmic conduct.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Anucarita: ethical interrogation within a narrative episode, serving as dharma-śikṣā (instruction).

What is the esoteric significance?

‘Wife-less’ can indicate loss of supportive inner energy (śakti) due to one’s own imbalance; the verse hints that alienation often originates in the self, not the other.