Mahābhārata · 1.101.1
॥
Devanāgarī
जनमेजय उवाच
किं कृतं कर्म धर्मेण येन शापम् उपेयिवान् ॥
कस्य शापाच् च ब्रह्मर्षे शूद्रयोनाव् अजायत ॥
Transliteración (IAST)
janamejaya uvāca
kiṃ kṛtaṃ karma dharmeṇa yena śāpam upeyivān ||
kasya śāpāc ca brahmarṣe śūdrayonāv ajāyata ||
Palabra por palabra
SánscritoIASTSignificado
किं कृतं कर्म धर्मेण येन शापम् उपेयिवान्kiṃ kṛtaṃ karma dharmeṇa yena śāpam upeyivānwhat deed was done by [the god] Dharma, on account of which he fell under a curse
कस्य शापात् च ब्रह्मर्षे शूद्रयोनौ अजायतkasya śāpāt ca brahmarṣe śūdrayonau ajāyataand by whose curse, O brahmarshi, was he born in the womb of a shudra?
जनमेजयjanamejayaoriginal form "janamejaya", added to complete the word-by-word coverage
शापाच्śāpācoriginal form "śāpāc", added to complete the word-by-word coverage
शूद्रयोनाव्śūdrayonāvoriginal form "śūdrayonāv", added to complete the word-by-word coverage
Traducción
Janamejaya asked: "What deed did [the god] Dharma commit, on account of which he fell under a curse? And by whose curse, O brahmarshi, was he born in the womb of a shudra?"
Versión
6967db198824 · publicado 12 jul 2026, 16:30:26 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
Here Janamejaya, having heard that the wise Vidura is none other than the god Dharma himself, born as a man, marvels and asks the reason. The king's very bewilderment is significant: how could the lord of dharma himself, the embodiment of righteousness, come under a curse and descend into the womb of a shudra -- the lowest of the four estates? Here lies an important truth: even a deva who knows the law is subject to the higher law of karma and to the word of a sage ascetic; no one in the universe except the Lord Himself stands above the law of action and retribution. The king's question sets the spring of the whole story in motion and leads to a profound lesson about the proportion between offense and punishment, about the power of tapas, and about the origin of the noblest of the Kurus -- Vidura.