Shloka 40
Pitṛ-śrāddha-haviḥ-phala-nirdeśa
Offerings for Ancestors and Their Stated Results
शुकेन ख्यापितो विप्र तं देवा: समुपाद्रवन् । शशाप शुकममग्निस्तु वाग्विहीनो भविष्यसि
śukena khyāpito vipra taṃ devāḥ samupādravan | śaśāpa śukam agnis tu vāg-vihīno bhaviṣyasi ||
ഹേ വിപ്രാ! ശുകൻ ആ കാര്യം വെളിപ്പെടുത്തിയപ്പോൾ ദേവന്മാർ കലങ്ങിപ്പോയി അവന്റെ മേൽ പാഞ്ഞെത്തി. അപ്പോൾ അഗ്നി ശുകനെ ശപിച്ചു—“നീ വാക്കറ്റവനാകും.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Speech has moral weight: revealing or proclaiming a matter can trigger powerful reactions and consequences. The verse highlights accountability for words and the idea that divine forces may enforce restraint through punishment, symbolized by the loss of speech.
Śuka discloses something significant; the gods, disturbed, converge upon him. Agni then pronounces a curse that Śuka will become speechless, marking a turning point where speech itself becomes the object of consequence.