Shloka 13
अध्याय २८१ — दानधर्मः, न्यायागतधनम्, ऋणत्रय-परिशोधनं च
Dāna ethics, lawful wealth, and settling obligations
कुरुनन्दन! तदनन्तर वृत्रासुरके मृत शरीरसे सम्पूर्ण जगत्को भय देनेवाली महाघोर एवं क्रूर स्वभाववाली ब्रह्महत्या प्रकट हुई। उसके दाँत बड़े विकराल थे। उसकी आकृति कृष्ण और पिंगल वर्णकी थी। वह देखनेमें बड़ी भयानक और विकृत रूपवाली थी ।।
kurunandana! tadanantaraṃ vṛtrāsurake mṛta-śarīre samastaṃ jagad bhayaṃ dātuṃ samarthā mahāghorā ca krūra-svabhāvā ca brahmahatyā prādurabhavat. tasyā dantā mahāvikarālāḥ. tasyā ākṛtiḥ kṛṣṇa-piṅgala-varṇā. sā darśane mahābhayānākārā vikṛta-rūpā ca. prakīrṇa-mūrdhajā caiva ghoranetrā ca bhārata, kapāla-mālinī caiva kṛtyeva bharatarṣabha, bharatanandana! tasyāḥ keśāḥ prakīrṇāḥ, netrāṇi ghorāṇi, kaṇṭhe nara-muṇḍa-mālā; sā kṛtyā-sadṛśīva babhūva.
毗湿摩说道：“俱卢之欢啊！在弗栗陀罗阿修罗（Vṛtrāsura）的尸身倒下之后，名为婆罗门杀罪之力（Brahmahatyā）的可怖存在显现出来——其性残酷凶暴，足以令整个世界战栗。她的牙齿狰狞外突；形色黝黑而带黄褐；一望便觉怪诞扭曲、骇人至极。她披头散发，目光凶厉，颈上悬着人颅之鬘。婆罗多的后裔啊，她宛如一位kṛtyā——具形的诅咒——显现在人前。”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage dramatizes moral causality: grave transgression—especially brahmahatyā, the killing of a brāhmaṇa—does not remain abstract but returns as an inescapable consequence. By personifying sin as a terrifying being, the text underscores that adharma generates fear, disorder, and suffering that pursue the doer until addressed through rightful means.
After Vṛtrāsura is slain, the force called Brahmahatyā manifests in a horrific, skull-garlanded form, resembling a kṛtyā. Bhīṣma describes her appearance to Yudhiṣṭhira to convey the dreadful aftermath and the tangible presence of guilt/curse that follows a grave killing.