Shloka 18
दैवं तु कथमेतद् वै यदहं मातृदोषतः
daivaṁ tu katham etad vai yad ahaṁ mātṛdoṣataḥ
Matanga berkata: “Namun bagaimana hal ini boleh disandarkan kepada takdir—keadaan diriku ini yang timbul kerana kesalahan ibuku?”
मतंग उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse questions the easy attribution of suffering to “fate” and points instead to moral causality: one’s condition may arise from specific human faults and actions (here framed as a maternal fault), raising ethical reflection on responsibility, inherited consequences, and the limits of blaming destiny.
Matanga speaks in a reflective, disputative tone, challenging an explanation that his predicament is merely daiva (fate). He argues that it stems from mātṛdoṣa—some fault connected with his mother—thereby shifting the discussion toward causation, culpability, and the ethical interpretation of birth-based circumstances.