Mahabharata 3.138.17 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 138, Shloka 17
भरद्वाजपुत्रवधः
The Slaying of Bharadvāja’s Son and the Sage’s Lament
ये तु पुत्रकृताच्छोकाद् भुशं व्याकुलचेतस: । शपन्तीष्टान् सखीनारततस्तिभ्य: पापतरो नु कः
ye tu putrakṛtāc chokād bhuśaṁ vyākulacetasaḥ | śapantīṣṭān sakhīn āratatas tibhyaḥ pāpataro nu kaḥ ||
భరద్వాజుడు అన్నాడు—కుమారునివల్ల కలిగిన శోకంతో తీవ్రంగా వ్యాకులచిత్తులై, తమ ఇష్టమైన మిత్రులకైనా శాపం పెట్టేవారికన్నా మరింత పాపులు ఇంకెవరు?
भरद्वाज उवाच
Educational Q&A
Grief does not justify adharma in speech: even in intense sorrow, one should restrain anger and avoid cursing or harming the innocent—especially one’s well-wishers—since such conduct deepens one’s moral fault (pāpa).
Bharadvāja delivers a moral rebuke, pointing to a pattern where people, shaken by the sorrow connected with a son, lose mental balance and lash out by cursing even dear friends; he frames this as a grave ethical failing.
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