Shloka 39

कल्माषपाद-शाप-कारणम्

Cause of Kalmāṣapāda’s Niyoga under a Curse

Devanagari script

ततस्तस्यामनावृष्ट्यां प्रवृत्तायामरिंदम । प्रजा: क्षयमुपाजग्मु: सर्वा: सस्थाणुजड़मा:,शत्रुसूदन! उस अनावृष्टिके समय प्राय: स्थावर एवं जंगम सभी प्रकारकी प्रजाका क्षय होने लगा

Transliteration

tatas tasyām anāvṛṣṭyāṁ pravṛttāyām ariṁdama | prajāḥ kṣayam upājagmuḥ sarvāḥ sasthāṇu-jaḍamāḥ ||

Translation

随后，当那旱灾既已降临之时，噢，摧敌者，一切众生皆趋于衰亡——无论不动者还是行走者——仿佛麻木呆滞，失却生气。

Word by Word

ततःthen, thereafter

तस्याम्in that (situation/time)

अनावृष्ट्याम्in the drought / in the absence of rain

प्रवृत्तायाम्having set in / having begun

अरिंदमO subduer of foes

प्रजाःcreatures, subjects

क्षयम्destruction, decline

उपाजग्मुःreached, came to

सर्वाःall

स-स्थाणु-जङ्गमाःboth stationary and moving (beings)

शत्रुसूदनO slayer of enemies

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vasiṣṭha

ariṁdama (epithet of the addressee)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights interdependence between natural order and human welfare: when rain fails, all beings suffer. Implicitly it points to dharma—especially the ruler’s and society’s responsibility to sustain conditions (ritual, governance, ethical conduct) that protect life and prevent collective distress.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vasiṣṭha describes the onset of a severe drought. As the rainless period begins, all creatures—both stationary and moving—start perishing or becoming weakened and listless, indicating a widespread collapse of vitality in the realm.