अहं हि किंदमो नाम तपसाप्रतिमो मुनिः ॥
व्यपत्रपन् मनुष्याणां मृग्यां मैथुनम् आचरम् ॥
मृगो भूत्वा मृगैः सार्धं चरामि गहने वने ॥
न तु ते ब्रह्महत्येयं भविष्यत्य् अविजानतः ॥
मृगरूपधरं हत्वा माम् एवं काममोहितम् ॥
अस्य तु त्वं फलं मूढ प्राप्स्यसीदृशम् एव हि ॥
प्रियया सह संवासं प्राप्य कामविमोहितः ॥
त्वम् अप्य् अस्याम् अवस्थायां प्रेतलोकं गमिष्यसि ॥
अन्तकाले च संवासं यया गन्तासि कान्तया ॥
प्रेतराजवशं प्राप्तं सर्वभूतदुरत्ययम् ॥
भक्त्या मतिमतां श्रेष्ठ सैव त्वाम् अनुयास्यति ॥
ahaṃ hi kiṃdamo nāma tapasāpratimo muniḥ ||
vyapatrapan manuṣyāṇāṃ mṛgyāṃ maithunam ācaram ||
mṛgo bhūtvā mṛgaiḥ sārdhaṃ carāmi gahane vane ||
na tu te brahmahatyeyaṃ bhaviṣyaty avijānataḥ ||
mṛgarūpadharaṃ hatvā mām evaṃ kāmamohitam ||
asya tu tvaṃ phalaṃ mūḍha prāpsyasīdṛśam eva hi ||
priyayā saha saṃvāsaṃ prāpya kāmavimohitaḥ ||
tvam apy asyām avasthāyāṃ pretalokaṃ gamiṣyasi ||
antakāle ca saṃvāsaṃ yayā gantāsi kāntayā ||
pretarājavaśaṃ prāptaṃ sarvabhūtaduratyayam ||
bhaktyā matimatāṃ śreṣṭha saiva tvām anuyāsyati ||
"For I am a sage named Kindama, unrivaled in austerity; ashamed before men, I would mate with a doe. Having become a deer, I roam among deer in the dense forest. This will not be for you the sin of killing a brahmin, for you did not know, in killing me, who bore the form of a deer, thus overcome by desire. But the fruit of this, O fool, you will obtain exactly the same: having come together with your beloved, overcome by desire, you too, in that very state, will depart to the world of the dead. And that beloved with whom you will unite in your final hour -- when you fall under the sway of the king of the dead, inescapable for all beings -- she, out of devotion, O best of the wise, will follow after you."
77b86160b4f1 · published Jul 12, 2026, 4:30:27 PM UTC
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Here the curse reveals its full measure, and its mercy as well. The sage himself lifts from Pandu the gravest of sins -- brahma-hatya, the killing of a brahmin -- for Pandu killed without knowing: intent determines the weight of guilt. A vital principle of dharma emerges here: ignorance lightens sin, though it does not cancel its fruit. The curse itself is telling: Pandu will die in a moment of love -- an exact mirror of his own deed. And the prophecy of the faithful wife is telling too: the one with whom he will unite in that fated hour will, "out of devotion, follow after him" -- a foreshadowing of Madri's self-immolation. Here is the greatness of the pativrata, of faithfulness reaching beyond the threshold of death; hidden within this curse is a prophecy of great love and sacrifice. Thus scripture weaves together punishment and prophecy: Pandu's death is already foretold, and with it, the devotion of the one who will not leave him even in death.