Shloka 23

Śulka, Kanyā, and Dauhitra-Riktha: Discourse on Bride-Price and Inheritance Rights (शुल्क-कन्या-दौहित्र-रिक्थविचारः)

Devanagari script

मिथुनस्यास्य कि मे स्यात्‌ कृतं पापं यथा गति: । अनिष्टा सर्वभूतानां कीर्तितानेन मेडद्य वै

Transliteration

mithunasyāsya ki me syāt kṛtaṃ pāpaṃ yathā gatiḥ | aniṣṭā sarvabhūtānāṃ kīrtitānena medady vai ||

Translation

Bhīṣma nói: “Ta đã phạm tội gì mà phải chịu một số phận như thế—một số phận gây hại cho muôn loài—giống như số phận đã được thuật lại hôm nay trước mặt ta dành cho đôi nam nữ này?”

Word by Word

• मिथुनस्य: of the couple (pair)
• मिथुनस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: मिथुन
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• अस्य: of this / his
• अस्य: Sambandha
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• किम्: what
• किम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: किम्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• मे: to me / for me
• मे: Sampradana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: —, Dative/Genitive, Singular

• स्यात्: might be / would be
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस्
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• कृतम्: done / committed
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• पापम्: sin, evil deed
• पापम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाप
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• यथा: as / in such a way that
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• गतिः: fate, course, end
• गतिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गति
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• अनिष्टा: undesirable, harmful
• अनिष्टा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनिष्ट
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• सर्वभूतानाम्: of all beings
• सर्वभूतानाम्: Sambandha
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्वभूत
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• कीर्तिता: described, proclaimed
• Type: Verb
• Root: कीर्तय्
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• अनेन: by this (person)
• अनेन: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• मेडद्य: Medadya (proper name)
• मेडद्य: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मेडद्य
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• वै: indeed, surely
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• mithuna (a man–woman couple)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds moral causality: one’s future ‘gati’ (destiny or post-mortem state) is shaped by one’s actions (pāpa/adharma). Bhishma’s question frames an ethical inquiry into what kinds of wrongdoing lead to a universally harmful, inauspicious fate.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma, responding to a description he has just heard about the grim fate allotted to a certain man–woman pair, reflects aloud and asks what sin could cause him to incur a similar, universally inauspicious destiny.