Shloka 14
Ādi-parva Adhyāya 97: Satyavatī’s appeal and Bhīṣma’s reaffirmation of satya
संध्यां वसिष्ठमासीनं तमत्यभिसूता: पुरा । तेन कोपाद् वयं शप्ता योनौ सम्भवतेति ह
sandhyāṃ vasiṣṭham āsīnaṃ tam atyabhisūtāḥ purā | tena kopād vayaṃ śaptā yonau sambhavateti ha ||
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: “Noon, nang si Vasiṣṭha ay nakaupo sa oras ng sandhyā—ang pagsamba sa dapithapon—kami ay kumilos nang lubhang di-nararapat sa kanya. Dahil doon, sa galit, isinumpa niya kami: ‘Isisilang kayo mula sa sinapupunan.’”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.
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.