Shloka 20
कुम्भकर्णवधः — Kumbhakarṇa’s Fall and the Renewal of the Engagement
इत्येते वै कथिता: पाण्डुपुत्रा यांस्त्वं मोहादवमन्य प्रवृत्त: । यद्येतेभ्यो मुच्यसे<रिष्टदेह: पुनर्जन्म प्राप्स्पसे जीव एव,इस प्रकार मैंने तुझे इन पाण्डवोंका परिचय दिया है, जिनका अपमान करके तू मोहवश इस नीच कर्ममें प्रवृत्त हुआ है। यदि आज तू इनके हाथोंसे जीवित बच जाय और तेरे शरीरपर कोई आँच नहीं आये, तो तुझे जीते-जी यह दूसरा जन्म प्राप्त हो
ity ete vai kathitāḥ pāṇḍuputrā yāṁs tvaṁ mohād avamanya pravṛttaḥ | yady etebhyo mucyase 'riṣṭadehaḥ punarjanma prāpsyase jīva eva ||
Vaiśampāyana disse: “Assim te descrevi os filhos de Pāṇḍu — aqueles que, por ilusão, desprezaste e contra os quais te lançaste por este caminho vil. Se hoje conseguires escapar deles com o corpo ileso e a vida ainda intacta, então, mesmo em vida, sofrerás um ‘segundo nascimento’: uma transformação forçada, produzida pelas consequências do teu próprio malfeito.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Contempt born of delusion leads one into ignoble action, and even if one escapes immediate physical harm, moral causality still brings a ‘second birth’—a forced change of status, identity, or suffering that functions like rebirth. The verse stresses accountability beyond mere survival.
Vaiśaṃpāyana concludes a description/introduction of the Pāṇḍavas and rebukes the addressed person for having insulted them and acted wrongly. He warns that even if the person survives uninjured, the consequences will still overtake him in the form of a figurative ‘rebirth’ while alive.