Devanagari
दैवमप्यनृतं वक्ति न मर्त्या एव केवलम् ।
यद्विश्रम्भादहं पाप: स्वसुर्निहतवाञ्छिशून् ॥ १७ ॥
Verse text
daivam apy anṛtaṁ vakti
na martyā eva kevalam
yad-viśrambhād ahaṁ pāpaḥ
svasur nihatavāṣ chiśūn
Synonyms
daivam
—
providence
;
api
—
also
;
anṛtam
—
lies
;
vakti
—
say
;
na
—
not
;
martyāḥ
—
human beings
;
eva
—
certainly
;
kevalam
—
only
;
yat
—
viśrambhāt — because of believing that prophecy
;
aham
—
I
;
pāpaḥ
—
the most sinful
;
svasuḥ
—
of my sister
;
nihatavān
—
killed
;
śiśūn
—
so many children .
Translation
Alas, not only human beings but sometimes even providence lies. And I am so sinful that I believed the omen of providence and killed so many of my sister’s children.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Alas, not only human beings but sometimes even providence lies. And I am so sinful that I believed the omen of providence and killed so many of my sister's children.
KB 10.4.17
“I am surprised, however, that the celestial prophecy has not come true. It is not only in human society that false propaganda is found. Now it appears that even the celestial denizens speak lies. Because I believed in the words of the celestial denizens, I have committed so many sins by killing the children of my sister.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Not only am I at fault. The cause is the devatās. The devatās lie. There is a contradiction to the śruti statement satyam eva devā amrṭam manuṣyāḥ: the devatās are truthful and humans lie. Humans are not so sinful by lying (eva). I am sinful. Otherwise why should I believe her words?
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
The fault does not lie with me alone – it lies with the devatas too. The devatās lie. Not only humans lie. Marteṣv anṛtaṁ pratiṣṭhitam: lying is fixed in mortals. Because of this even devatās can lie. I have committed sin or am cruel (pāpaḥ).