Shloka 1

Devanagari script

(दाक्षिणात्य अधिक पाठके ४ ३ श्लोक मिलाकर कुल २८३ लोक हैं) नवनवतितमो< ध्याय: महर्षि वसिष्ठद्वारा वसुओंको शाप प्राप्त होनेकी कथा शान्तनुरुवाच आपतवो नाम को न्वेष वसूनां कि च दुष्कृतम्‌ । यस्याभिशापात्‌ ते सर्वे मानुषी योनिमागता:,शान्तनुने पूछा--देवि! ये आपव नामके महात्मा कौन हैं? और वसुओंका क्‍या अपराध था, जिससे आपवके शापसे उन सबको मनुष्य-योनिमें आना पड़ा

Transliteration

Śāntanur uvāca: Āpavo nāma ko ’nveṣa vasūnāṁ kiṁ ca duṣkṛtam | yasyābhiśāpāt te sarve mānuṣīṁ yonim āgatāḥ ||

Translation

商檀奴问道：“女神啊，这位名为阿婆婆（Āpava）的伟大仙人是谁？诸婆苏又犯了何等过失，以致因他的诅咒，他们全都被迫投生人胎？”

Word by Word

शान्तनुःŚāntanu

उवाचsaid

आपतवःthe Āpatavas (a group/name)

नामby name / named

कःwho?

नुindeed / pray

एषःthis (one)?

वसूनाम्of the Vasus

किम्what?

चand

दुष्कृतम्misdeed / wrongdoing

यस्यof whom / whose

अभिशापात्from (his) curse

तेthey

सर्वेall

मानुषीम्human

योनिम्womb/birth; state of birth

आगताःhaving come / having attained

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śāntanu

Devi (Gaṅgā, implied addressee in this episode)

Āpava (sage, connected with Vasiṣṭha in the narrative tradition)

Vasus

Curse (abhiśāpa)

Human womb/birth (mānuṣī yoni)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage highlights moral accountability: status does not exempt anyone from consequences. Even celestial beings (the Vasus) must bear the results of wrongdoing, and a sage’s curse represents the ethical force that compels restitution through lived experience (human birth).

What is happening in the narrative?

King Śāntanu questions the goddess (Gaṅgā) about the identity of the sage named Āpava and asks what offense the Vasus committed that led to their being cursed to take human birth.