Shloka 44

Adhyaya 3 — The Dharmapakshis’ Past-Life Curse and Indra’s Test of Truthfulness

Sanskrit

प्रतिज्ञातं वचो मह्यं यस्मान्नैतत् करिष्यथ ।

तस्मान्मच्छापनिर्दग्धास्तिर्यग्योनौ प्रयास्यथ ॥

Transliteration

pratijñātaṃ vaco mahyaṃ yasmān naitat kariṣyatha /

tasmān macchāpa-nirdagdhās tiryagyonau prayāsyatha //

Translation

നീ എനിക്കു നൽകിയ പ്രതിജ്ഞ പാലിക്കാത്തതിനാൽ, എന്റെ ശാപത്തിൽ ദഗ്ധനായി നീ അമാനുഷ യോനിയിൽ ചെന്നു തിര്യക്‌-യോനിയിൽ ജന്മം പ്രാപിക്കും।

Word by Word

• pratijñātam: promised
• pratijñātam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: prati-√jñā (धातु) + kta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: Kta-participle (क्त), Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन); used adjectivally qualifying ‘vacaḥ’

• vacaḥ: word, promise
• vacaḥ: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vacas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• mahyam: to me
• mahyam: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun; Dative (4th/चतुर्थी), Singular (एकवचन)

• yasmāt: since, because
• yasmāt: Hetu (हेतु)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Relative pronoun; Ablative (5th/पञ्चमी), Singular (एकवचन); used in causal sense ‘because/since’

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

• etat: this
• etat: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Demonstrative pronoun; Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• kariṣyatha: you will do
• kariṣyatha: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: Luṭ (लुट्) / Simple Future, Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद), 2nd person (मध्यमपुरुष), Plural (बहुवचन)

• tasmāt: therefore
• tasmāt: Hetu/Upasaṃhāra (हेतु/उपसंहार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Demonstrative pronoun; Ablative (5th/पञ्चमी), Singular (एकवचन); used as connective ‘therefore/from that’

• mat: my
• mat: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: asmad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun-base in genitive sense; used as first member in compound meaning ‘my’ (मम)

• śāpa: curse
• śāpa: Upapada (उपपद)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), stem used in compound

• nirdagdhāḥ: burnt, scorched
• nirdagdhāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: nir-√dah (धातु) + kta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: Kta-participle (क्त), Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural (बहुवचन); predicate adjective to implied ‘you’

• tiryagyonau: in an animal womb (as animals)
• tiryagyonau: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tiryak + yoni (प्रातिपदिकौ)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (तत्पुरुष) ‘tiryag-yoni’ = animal-womb; Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular (एकवचन)

• prayāsyatha: you will go/attain
• prayāsyatha: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pra-√yā (धातु)
• Form: Luṭ (लुट्) / Simple Future, Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद), 2nd person (मध्यमपुरुष), Plural (बहुवचन)

Speakers

• Unspecified from the single-verse input (speaker is a curser addressing multiple hearers).

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "raudra", "secondaryRasa": "bhayanaka", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Key Themes

• Dharma
• Satya (truthfulness / keeping one’s word)
• Karma and retribution
• Śāpa (curse) as moral causality
• Tiryagyoni (non-human rebirth)

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse asserts the dharmic gravity of a pledged word (pratijñā). Breaking a promise is treated not merely as social fault but as a moral breach that ripens into tangible karmic consequence—here expressed as a fall into tiryagyoni (non-human birth). The implied lesson is satya and reliability: vows bind the speaker and stabilize trust, while their violation destabilizes one’s moral standing.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

This is not primarily sarga/pratisarga/vaṃśa/manvantara/vaṃśānucarita material; it functions as vaṃśānucarita-style narrative ethics (exemplary episode) used to teach dharma through consequence. It belongs to the Purana’s didactic storytelling mode rather than cosmological enumeration.

What is the esoteric significance?

‘Burned by my curse’ can be read symbolically as the inner heat of adharma: violating truth scorches one’s subtle integrity (saṃskāra), producing a downward turn of consciousness toward instinct-dominated existence, signified by tiryagyoni. The verse encodes a psychological mapping: truthfulness refines buddhi, while deceit and breach of vow thicken tamas and pull the being toward lower modes of embodiment.