Shloka 11

अष्टावक्र-प्रवेशः तथा ब्रह्मोद्य-प्रारम्भः

Aṣṭāvakra’s Entry and the Opening of the Brahmodya

Devanagari script

उपालब्ध: शिष्यमध्ये महर्षि: स त॑ं कोपादुदरस्थं शशाप । यस्मात्‌ कुक्षौ वर्तमानो ब्रवीषि तस्माद्‌ वक्रो भवितास्यष्टकृत्व:,शिष्योंके बीचमें बैठे हुए महर्षि कहोड इस प्रकार उलाहना सुनकर अपमानका अनुभव करते हुए कुपित हो उठे और उस गर्भस्थ बालकको शाप देते हुए बोले, “अरे! तू अभी पेटमें रहकर ऐसी टेढ़ी बातें बोलता है, अतः तू आठों अंगोंसे टेढ़ा हो जायगा'

Transliteration

upālabdhaḥ śiṣya-madhye maharṣiḥ sa taṁ kopād udara-sthaṁ śaśāpa | yasmāt kukṣau vartamāno bravīṣi tasmād vakro bhavitāsy aṣṭa-kṛtvaḥ ||

Translation

ശിഷ്യന്മാരുടെ നടുവിൽ തന്നെ കുറ്റപ്പെടുത്തൽ കേട്ട മഹർഷി കഹോഡൻ അപമാനം അനുഭവിച്ചു; കോപം ജ്വലിച്ച് ഗർഭസ്ഥ ബാലനെ ശപിച്ച് പറഞ്ഞു— “ഗർഭത്തിൽ ഇരുന്നുകൊണ്ടും നീ ഇങ്ങനെ വളഞ്ഞ വാക്കുകൾ പറയുന്നു; അതിനാൽ നീ എട്ടുവിധമായി—എട്ട് അംഗങ്ങളിലും—വക്രനാകും.”

Word by Word

• {'upālabdhaḥ': 'rebuked, reproached', 'śiṣya-madhye': 'in the midst of (his) disciples', 'maharṣiḥ': 'great seer, eminent sage', 'kopāt': 'from anger', 'udara-stham': 'situated in the belly

• in the womb', 'śaśāpa': 'cursed', 'yasmāt': 'since, because', 'kukṣau': 'in the womb, in the belly', 'vartamānaḥ': 'being, abiding, existing', 'bravīṣi': 'you speak (2nd person singular)', 'tasmāt': 'therefore', 'vakraḥ': 'crooked, bent, deformed', 'bhavitā asi': 'you will become', 'aṣṭa-kṛtvaḥ': 'eightfold

Speaker

लोगश उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Kahoḍa (mahārṣi)
• unborn child in the womb (Aṣṭāvakra, implied)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical danger of anger and wounded pride: even a sage, when provoked, may misuse speech and cause harm. It also stresses the moral weight of words—rebuke and curse can become formative forces, so restraint (kṣamā) and measured speech are central to dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In front of his disciples, the sage Kahoda is reproached; feeling insulted, he becomes angry and curses the unborn child in the womb, declaring that because the child speaks ‘crookedly’ while still in the womb, he will be born crooked in eight limbs—an allusion to Aṣṭāvakra.