Shloka 21
मौसलोत्पत्तिः — The Birth of the Musala and the Sages’ Pronouncement
पुत्रशोकाभिसंतप्ता गान्धारी हतबान्धवा | यदनुव्याजहारार्ता तदिदं समुपागमत्,वे बोले--“बन्धु-बान्धवोंके मारे जानेपर पुत्रशोकसे संतप्त हुई गान्धारी देवीने अत्यन्त व्यथित होकर हमारे कुलके लिये जो शाप दिया था उसके सफल होनेका यह समय आ गया है
putraśokābhisanta ptā gāndhārī hatabāndhavā | yad anuvyājahārārtā tad idaṃ samupāgamat |
वैशम्पायन उवाच— पुत्रशोकाभिसंतप्ता गान्धारी हतबान्धवा। यदनुव्याजहारार्ता तदिदं समुपागमत्॥
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral logic of consequence: intense suffering can give rise to powerful speech-acts (a śāpa/curse), and in the epic worldview such acts mature over time into inevitable outcomes. It frames the coming destruction as the ripening of prior causes rather than a random calamity.
Vaiśaṃpāyana signals that the moment has arrived for Gandhārī’s earlier curse upon the Kuru line to take effect. This serves as a narrative hinge in the Mausala Parva, foreshadowing the imminent collapse of the Yādavas and the final unraveling of the epic’s surviving dynasties.