Srimad Bhagavatam 9.2.8-9

[makarand]

TEXT 8

manyamāno hataṁ vyāghraṁ

pṛṣadhraḥ para-vīra-hā

adrākṣīt sva-hatāṁ babhruṁ

vyuṣṭāyāṁ niśi duḥkhitaḥ

SYNONYMS

manyamānaḥ—thinking that; hatam—has been killed; vyāghram—the tiger; pṛṣadhraḥ—Manu’s son Pṛṣadhra; para-vīra-hā—although quite able to punish the enemy; adrākṣīt—saw; sva-hatām—had been killed by him; babhrum—the cow; vyuṣṭāyām niśi—when the night had passed (in the morning); duḥkhitaḥ—became very much unhappy.

TRANSLATION

In the morning, when Pṛṣadhra, who was quite able to subdue his enemy, saw that he had killed the cow although at night he thought he had killed the tiger, he was very unhappy.

TEXT 9

taṁ śaśāpa kulācāryaḥ

kṛtāgasam akāmataḥ

na kṣatra-bandhuḥ śūdras tvaṁ

karmaṇā bhavitāmunā

SYNONYMS

tam—him (Pṛṣadhra); śaśāpa—cursed; kula-ācāryaḥ—the family priest, Vasiṣṭha; kṛta-āgasam—because of committing the great sin of killing a cow; akāmataḥ—although he did not want to do it; na—not; kṣatra-bandhuḥ—the family member of a kṣatriya; śūdraḥ tvam—you have behaved like a śūdra; karmaṇā—therefore by your fruitive reaction; bhavitā—you shall become a śūdra; amunā—because of killing the cow.

TRANSLATION

Although Pṛṣadhra had committed the sin unknowingly, his family priest, Vasiṣṭha, cursed him, saying, “In your next life you shall not be able to become a kṣatriya. Instead, you shall take birth as a śūdra because of killing the cow.”