Shaunaka Rebukes Janamejaya for Killing a Brahmin

Verse 1 (12.149.1)

अबुद्धिपूर्वं यत्पापं कुर्याद्भरतसत्तम । मुच्यते स कथं तस्मादेनसस्तद्ब्रवीहि मे ॥

abuddhipūrvaṃ yatpāpaṃ kuryādbharatasattama | mucyate sa kathaṃ tasmādenasastadbravīhi me

"O best of the Bharatas, when a man commits a sin without intending it, how is he freed from that guilt? Tell me."

Verse 2 (12.149.2)

अत्र ते वर्तयिष्यामि पुराणमृषिसंस्तुतम् । इन्द्रोतः शौनको विप्रो यदाह जनमेजयम् ॥

atra te vartayiṣyāmi purāṇamṛṣisaṃstutam | indrotaḥ śaunako vipro yadāha janamejayam

"On this I shall relate to you an ancient account, praised by the sages: what the brahmin Indrota Shaunaka said to Janamejaya."

Note on the text: Wikisource reads अत्र ते वर्तयिष्यामि पुराणमृषिसंस्तुतम् against CE atra te varṇayiṣye 'ham itihāsaṃ purātanam; kept as a variant.

Verse 3 (12.149.3)

आसीद्राजा महावीर्यः पारिक्षिज्जनमेजयः । अबुद्धिजा ब्रह्महत्या तमागच्छन्महीपतिम् ॥

āsīdrājā mahāvīryaḥ pārikṣijjanamejayaḥ | abuddhijā brahmahatyā tamāgacchanmahīpatim

There was a king named Janamejaya, son of Parikshit, a man of great prowess. The guilt of killing a brahmin, which had arisen without his intending it, came upon that lord of the earth.

Verse 4 (12.149.4)

ब्राह्मणाः सर्व एवैनं तत्यजुः सपुरोहिताः । स जगाम वनं राजा दह्यमानो दिवानिशम् ॥

brāhmaṇāḥ sarva evainaṃ tatyajuḥ sapurohitāḥ | sa jagāma vanaṃ rājā dahyamāno divāniśam

All the brahmins, together with his priests, abandoned him. The king went off to the forest, burning day and night.

Verse 5 (12.149.5)

प्रजाभिः स परित्यक्तश्चकार कुशलं महत् । अतिवेलं तपस्तेपे दह्यमानः स मन्युना ॥

prajābhiḥ sa parityaktaścakāra kuśalaṃ mahat | ativelaṃ tapastepe dahyamānaḥ sa manyunā

Forsaken by his subjects, he did much that was good; he practised austerities beyond measure, burning with remorse.

Verse 6 (12.149.6)

ब्रह्महत्यापनोदार्थमपृच्छद्ब्राह्मणान्बहून् । पर्यटन्पृथिवीं कृत्स्नां देशेदेशे नराधिपः ॥

brahmahatyāpanodārthamapṛcchadbrāhmaṇānbahūn | paryaṭanpṛthivīṃ kṛtsnāṃ deśedeśe narādhipaḥ

To remove the guilt of killing a brahmin, that lord of men questioned many brahmins as he wandered over the whole earth, from place to place.

Note on the text: Not matched by the alignment: these two lines are the CE star passage 12.146.5d*0379_01-02 (brahmahatyāpanodārtham apṛcchad brāhmaṇān bahūn / paryaṭan pṛthivīṃ kṛtsnāṃ deśe deśe narādhipaḥ), printed in the CE's apparatus, not in its constituted text.

Verse 7 (12.149.7)

तत्रेतिहासं वक्ष्यामि धर्मस्यास्योपवृंहणम् । दह्यमानः पापकृत्या जगाम जनमेजयः ॥

tatretihāsaṃ vakṣyāmi dharmasyāsyopavṛṃhaṇam | dahyamānaḥ pāpakṛtyā jagāma janamejayaḥ

"On this I shall tell the history that adds strength to this dharma. Burning from his sinful deed, Janamejaya went —

Note on the text: Line 1 is Bhishma speaking to Yudhishthira in the first person; line 2 returns to the narrative. The sentence runs on into the next verse.

Verse 8 (12.149.8)

चरिष्यमाण इन्द्रोतं शौनकं संशितव्रतम् । समासाद्योपजग्राह पादयोः परिपीडयन् ॥

cariṣyamāṇa indrotaṃ śaunakaṃ saṃśitavratam | samāsādyopajagrāha pādayoḥ paripīḍayan

— intending to undertake the expiation, to Indrota Shaunaka, the sage of strict vows; he came up to him and clasped his feet, pressing them."

Note on the text: Wikisource चरिष्यमाण against CE variṣyamāṇa (variant, kept).

Verse 9 (12.149.9)

ततो भीतो महाप्राज्ञो जगर्हे सुभृशं तदा । कर्ता पापस्य महतो भ्रूणहा किमिहागतः ॥

tato bhīto mahāprājño jagarhe subhṛśaṃ tadā | kartā pāpasya mahato bhrūṇahā kimihāgataḥ

Then the greatly wise sage, in alarm, reviled him bitterly: "Doer of a great sin, killer of a brahmin, why have you come here?

Note on the text: Line 1 is narration; the sage's reproach begins in line 2 (no heading is printed there), so the verse stays with the narrator.

Verse 10 (12.149.10)

किं तवास्मासु कर्तव्यं मा मां द्राक्षीः कथंचन । गच्छगच्छ न ते स्थानं प्रीणात्यस्मानिति ब्रुवन् ॥

kiṃ tavāsmāsu kartavyaṃ mā māṃ drākṣīḥ kathaṃcana | gacchagaccha na te sthānaṃ prīṇātyasmāniti bruvan

"What have you to do with us? Never let me set eyes on you. Go, go! Your presence does not please us" — so he said.

Note on the text: The page prints no new speaker heading for the sage's speech; it runs from verse 9b to the end of the adhyaya, so verses 10-19 are given to Shaunaka (as in the CE).

Verse 11 (12.149.11)

रुधिरस्येव ते गन्धः शवस्येव च दर्शनम् । अशिवः शिवसंकाशो मृतो जीवन्निवाटसि ॥

rudhirasyeva te gandhaḥ śavasyeva ca darśanam | aśivaḥ śivasaṃkāśo mṛto jīvannivāṭasi

"You smell of blood and look like a corpse. You seem auspicious but are inauspicious; you go about as if alive, yet you are dead.

Verse 12 (12.149.12)

अन्तर्भृत्युरशुद्धात्मा पापमेवानुचिन्तयन् । प्रबुध्यसे प्रस्वपिषि वर्तसे परमे सुखे ॥

antarbhṛtyuraśuddhātmā pāpamevānucintayan | prabudhyase prasvapiṣi vartase parame sukhe

"With death within you, impure in soul, brooding on nothing but your sin — you wake, you sleep, you go on in the highest comfort.

Note on the text: Corrected प्रस्वपिपि → प्रस्वपिषि (misprint in Wikisource; प for ष; CE prasvapiṣi).

Verse 13 (12.149.13)

मोघं ते जीवितं राजन्परिक्लिष्टं च जीवसि । पापायैव हि सृष्टोऽसि कर्मणेह यवीयसे ॥

moghaṃ te jīvitaṃ rājanparikliṣṭaṃ ca jīvasi | pāpāyaiva hi sṛṣṭo'si karmaṇeha yavīyase

"Your life is wasted, O king; you live in distress. You were created only for sin, for a base deed in this world.

Verse 14 (12.149.14)

बहुकल्याणमिच्छन्त ईहन्ते पितरः सुतान् । तपसा दैवतेज्याभिर्वन्दनेन तितिक्षया ॥

bahukalyāṇamicchanta īhante pitaraḥ sutān | tapasā daivatejyābhirvandanena titikṣayā

"Fathers strive for their sons, wishing them great good, by austerity, by worship of the gods, by homage and by forbearance.

Verse 15 (12.149.15)

पितृवंशमिमं पश्य त्वत्कृते निधनं गतम् । निरर्थाः सर्व एवैषामाशाबन्धास्त्वदाश्रयाः ॥

pitṛvaṃśamimaṃ paśya tvatkṛte nidhanaṃ gatam | nirarthāḥ sarva evaiṣāmāśābandhāstvadāśrayāḥ

"Look at this line of your fathers, brought to ruin because of you. All the bonds of hope they placed in you are in vain.

Verse 16 (12.149.16)

यान्पूजयन्तो विन्दन्ति स्वर्गमायुर्यशः प्रजाः । तेषु ते संततं द्वेषो ब्राह्मणेषु निरर्थकः ॥

yānpūjayanto vindanti svargamāyuryaśaḥ prajāḥ | teṣu te saṃtataṃ dveṣo brāhmaṇeṣu nirarthakaḥ

"The brahmins whom men honour and so win heaven, long life, fame and offspring — against those very brahmins you bear a constant and groundless hatred.

Verse 17 (12.149.17)

इमं लोकं विमुच्य त्वमवाङ्मूर्धा पतिष्यसि । अशाश्वतीः शाश्वतीश्च समाः पापेन कर्मणा ॥

imaṃ lokaṃ vimucya tvamavāṅmūrdhā patiṣyasi | aśāśvatīḥ śāśvatīśca samāḥ pāpena karmaṇā

"Leaving this world, you will fall head downward for years both unlasting and long, because of your sinful deed.

Note on the text: Corrected अवाङ्भूर्धा → अवाङ्मूर्धा (misprint in Wikisource; भ for म; CE avāṅmūrdhā).

Verse 18 (12.149.18)

स्वाद्यमानो जन्तुशतैस्तीक्ष्णदंष्ट्रैरयोमुखैः । ततश्च पुनरावृत्तः पापयोनिं गमिष्यसि ॥

svādyamāno jantuśataistīkṣṇadaṃṣṭrairayomukhaiḥ | tataśca punarāvṛttaḥ pāpayoniṃ gamiṣyasi

"Devoured by hundreds of creatures with sharp teeth and iron mouths, you will afterwards return and enter a sinful birth.

Verse 19 (12.149.19)

यदिदं मन्यसे राजन्नायमस्ति कुतः परः । प्रतिस्मारयितारस्त्वां यमदूता यमक्षये ॥

yadidaṃ manyase rājannāyamasti kutaḥ paraḥ | pratismārayitārastvāṃ yamadūtā yamakṣaye

"You think, O king, 'There is only this world; how could there be another?' But in Yama's abode the messengers of Yama will make you remember."