Shloka 22

Śānti-parva Adhyāya 30: Nārada–Parvata Samaya-bhaṅga, Śāpa, and the Marriage of Sukumārī

Devanagari script

भवता वचन ब्रद्मंंस्तस्मादेष शपाम्यहम्‌ । “आपने मेरे साथ स्वस्थचित्तसे यह शर्त की थी कि “हम दोनोंके हृदयमें जो भी शुभ या अशुभ संकल्प हो, उसे हम दोनों एक दूसरेसे कह दें।” परंतु ब्रह्म! आपने अपने उस वचनको मिथ्या कर दिया; इसलिये मैं शाप देनेको उद्यत हुआ हूँ || २०-२१ $ ।। न हि काम प्रवर्तन्तं भवानाचष्ट मे पुरा

Transliteration

bhavatā vacanaṁ brahman tasmād eṣa śapāmy aham | “āvābhyāṁ saha svasthacittena iyaṁ śartir kṛtā—āvayoḥ hṛdaye yaḥ kaścid api śubho’śubhaḥ saṅkalpo jāyate taṁ parasparaṁ vadāvaḥ” iti | kintu brahman tvayā tad vacanaṁ mithyā kṛtam; tasmād ahaṁ śāpāya udyato’smi || na hi kāmaṁ pravartantaṁ bhavān ācakṣṭa me purā ||

Translation

Kṛṣṇa nói: “Hỡi Bà-la-môn! Vì ngài đã làm sai lời đã hứa, nên ta bị thôi thúc phải thốt lời nguyền rủa. Ngài và ta đã bình tâm giao ước điều này: bất cứ ý định nào—lành hay dữ—khởi lên trong lòng một trong hai chúng ta, thì cả hai sẽ nói cho nhau biết. Nhưng, hỡi Bà-la-môn, ngài đã khiến lời hứa ấy thành dối trá; vì thế ta sẵn sàng nguyền rủa ngài. Bởi trước đây ngài đã không nói với ta về dục vọng đang dấy lên trong lòng ngài.”

Word by Word

• {'bhavatā': 'by you (instrumental of bhavat)', 'vacanam': 'word, promise, statement', 'brahman': 'O Brahmin

• a learned priestly person (vocative)', 'tasmāt': 'therefore, for that reason', 'eṣa': 'thus, in this manner', 'śapāmi': 'I curse, I pronounce a curse', 'aham': 'I', 'svasthacittena': 'with a composed/steady mind', 'śartiḥ': 'condition, agreement, stipulation', 'hṛdaye': 'in the heart', 'śubha': 'auspicious, wholesome', 'aśubha': 'inauspicious, unwholesome', 'saṅkalpa': 'intention, resolve, mental formation', 'parasparam': 'mutually, to each other', 'mithyā': 'false, untrue, made void', 'udyataḥ': 'ready, intent upon, prepared', 'kāma': 'desire, impulse', 'pravartamāna': 'arising, becoming active', 'ācakṣṭa': 'told, disclosed, informed'}

Speaker

श्रीकृष्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śrī Kṛṣṇa
• a Brahmin (addressed as brahman)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A pledged word (vacana) is a moral bond: breaking an agreed condition—especially about truthful disclosure of one’s intentions—undermines trust and invites ethical consequence. The passage stresses accountability for inner motives (saṅkalpa) and the duty to speak truthfully when a vow has been made.

What is happening in the narrative?

Krishna addresses a Brahmin and recalls a prior agreement that both would reveal any auspicious or inauspicious intention arising in their hearts. Krishna accuses the Brahmin of concealing a desire and thereby making his promise false, and declares himself prepared to curse him as a consequence of that breach.