द्वे चास्य भार्ये गर्भिण्यौ बभूवतुरिति श्रुतम्। एका गर्भविनाशाय सपत्न्यै सगरं ददौ
Meaning
'It is told that Asita's two queens were both pregnant, and that one gave the other poisoned food, meaning to destroy her unborn child.'
Word-by-word (pada-artha)
| Word | Devanagari | Meaning | Grammatical role |
|---|---|---|---|
| dve ca asya bhārye | द्वे च अस्य भार्ये | and his two wives | Nominative dual / Adverbial / Genitive / Nominative dual |
| garbhiṇyau babhūvatuḥ iti śrutam | गर्भिण्यौ बभूवतुः इति श्रुतम् | were pregnant, so it is heard | Nominative dual / Verb (perfect) / Quotation / Nominative |
| ekā garbha-vināśāya | एका गर्भ-विनाशाय | one, for the destruction of the fetus | Nominative / Dative |
| sapatnyai sagaram dadau | सपत्न्यै सगरम् ददौ | gave [poison] to her co-wife, Sagara | Dative / Accusative / Verb (perfect) |
Scholar commentary
valmikiramayan.net Prose Commentary
Desiraju Hanumanta Rao's prose rendering with embedded explanatory notes
The source flags a manuscript variant over which of Asita's two co-wives administered the poison and which received it: some readings have Kalindi giving the poisoned food to her co-wife, while others have her as the one who received it. The source favors the latter reading, noting the particle 'ca' ('also') in the verse suggests Kalindi, too, came to the sage burdened by both pregnancy and the guilt of having poisoned her co-wife -- which would only make sense if she were the one who administered it, not received it.
1 of 16 traditions have commentary on this shloka. Traditions without a verse-specific commentary here are omitted rather than filled in.
Reference: 1.70.30 · Bāla Kāṇḍa