Shloka 43
Adhyāya 41 — Kṛṣṇa’s Battlefield Briefing and the Renewal of the Great Engagement
77५ बह: * ८/5३१४ ४४.” 'ब्राह्मणके उस शापसे मुझे अधिक भय हो रहा है। ये ब्राह्मण, जिनके राजा चन्द्रमा हैं, अपने शाप या वरदानद्वारा दूसरोंको दुःख एवं सुख देनेमें समर्थ हैं ।।
brāhmaṇasya śāpena me bhayaṃ bhūya eva jāyate | ime brāhmaṇāḥ candrarājānaḥ śāpavaradānābhyāṃ pareṣāṃ duḥkhasukhe dātuṃ samarthāḥ || adāṃ tasmai go-sahasraṃ balīvarda-aśva-ṣaṭ-śatān | prasādaṃ na labhe śalya brāhmaṇān madrakeśvara ||
Sañjaya berkata: “Sumpahan brahmana itu memenuhi hatiku dengan ketakutan yang lebih besar. Para brāhmaṇa ini—yang berdaulatnya ialah Bulan—mempunyai kuasa, melalui sumpahan atau anugerah, untuk mengurniakan derita atau bahagia kepada orang lain. Wahai Śalya, tuan Madra! Aku telah mempersembahkan kepadanya seribu ekor lembu dan enam ratus ekor lembu jantan serta kuda, namun aku tidak juga memperoleh perkenan rahmatnya.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral-spiritual authority is not automatically neutralized by wealth or gifts: a brāhmaṇa’s displeasure (śāpa) is feared because speech grounded in tapas and dharma is believed to carry real consequences. The verse also implies that true reconciliation requires right conduct and sincerity, not merely material compensation.
Sañjaya reports a situation in which a brāhmaṇa’s curse has become a serious concern. He tells Śalya, the Madra king, that even after offering substantial gifts—one thousand cows and six hundred bulls and horses—he failed to win the brāhmaṇa’s favor, highlighting the gravity of the curse and the limits of material appeasement.