Shloka 14

Ādi-parva Adhyāya 97: Satyavatī’s appeal and Bhīṣma’s reaffirmation of satya

Devanagari script

संध्यां वसिष्ठमासीनं तमत्यभिसूता: पुरा । तेन कोपाद्‌ वयं शप्ता योनौ सम्भवतेति ह

Transliteration

sandhyāṃ vasiṣṭham āsīnaṃ tam atyabhisūtāḥ purā | tena kopād vayaṃ śaptā yonau sambhavateti ha ||

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana disse: “Outrora, quando o sábio Vasiṣṭha estava sentado no momento do rito do crepúsculo (sandhyā), comportamo-nos com grave impropriedade para com ele. Por isso, irado, ele nos amaldiçoou, dizendo: ‘Nascereis de um ventre.’”

Word by Word

सन्ध्याम्evening-twilight (time)

वसिष्ठम्Vasiṣṭha

आसीनम्seated

तम्him

अतिover, beyond, excessively

अभिसूताःpressed/urged on, driven (towards)

पुराformerly, once

तेनby him/therefore

कोपात्from anger

वयम्we

शप्ताःcursed

योनौin a womb, in a birth

सम्भवतेis born/comes into existence

इतिthus

हindeed, surely (emphatic particle)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Vasiṣṭha

Sandhyā (twilight worship/time)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores dharma through the ethic of reverence: disrespect toward a spiritually eminent person—especially during sacred observance—brings serious consequences. It also highlights moral causality (karma-like linkage) where wrongful conduct leads to a corrective or punitive outcome.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana recounts a past incident in which certain beings (speaking as 'we') insulted the sage Vasiṣṭha while he was seated for Sandhyā. Angered, Vasiṣṭha pronounced a curse that they would be born through a womb, marking a fall into embodied, ordinary birth.