Shloka 41

Viśvāmitra-janma: Ṛcīka–Satyavatī–Gādhi and the Charu Exchange (विश्वामित्र-जन्म: ऋचीक–सत्यवती–गाधि वृत्तान्तः)

Devanagari script

क्षत्रियं तूग्रकर्माणं त्वं भद्रे जनयिष्यसि । नहि ते तत्‌ कृतं साधु मातृस्नेहेन भाविनि

Transliteration

kṣatriyaṃ tūgrakarmāṇaṃ tvaṃ bhadre janayiṣyasi | nahi te tat kṛtaṃ sādhu mātṛsnehena bhāvini ||

Translation

毗湿摩说道：“吉祥的女子啊，你将生下一位刹帝利之子，其行事凶烈。你因眷恋母爱而行此事，实非可称。由于你与母亲所作的交换，你的母亲将诞下那位命定为婆罗门的卓越之子，而你将成为一名武士之母——其作为将令人畏惧。”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'kṣatriyam', 'definition': 'a Kshatriya

• member of the warrior-ruler class'}, {'term': 'ugra-karmāṇam', 'definition': 'one whose deeds are fierce/terrible

• of violent or formidable actions'}, {'term': 'bhadre', 'definition': 'O good/auspicious lady (vocative of address)'}, {'term': 'janayiṣyasi', 'definition': 'you will beget/give birth to'}, {'term': 'nahi', 'definition': 'indeed not

• certainly not'}, {'term': 'tat', 'definition': 'that (act/thing just mentioned)'}, {'term': 'kṛtam', 'definition': 'done

• performed'}, {'term': 'sādhu', 'definition': 'good, proper, commendable'}, {'term': 'mātṛ-snehena', 'definition': 'through/owing to affection for one’s mother

• maternal attachment'}, {'term': 'bhāvini', 'definition': 'O future one

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhishma criticizes an action motivated by excessive attachment (mātṛ-sneha), stressing that emotional partiality can lead to ethically improper choices and far-reaching consequences, including the shaping of future outcomes (offspring and destiny).

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma addresses a woman and foretells the result of a mother–daughter exchange: the mother will bear a son suited to Brahmin excellence, while the daughter will bear a fierce Kshatriya. He judges the exchange as not proper because it was driven by maternal affection rather than right discernment.