Text 9]
The Dynasties of the Sons of Manu
37
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 Prṣadhra, 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
तं शशाप कुलाचार्यः कृतागसमकामतः । न क्षत्रबन्धुः शूद्रस्त्वं कर्मणा भवितामुना ॥ ९ ॥
tam śaśāpa kulācāryaḥ kṛtāgasam akāmataḥ na kṣatra-bandhuḥ śūdras tvam karmaṇā bhavitāmunā
tam —him (Prṣadhra);  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 Prṣadhra 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.”
PURPORT
It appears that Vasiṣṭha was not free from  tamo-guṇa , the mode of ignorance. As the family priest or spiritual master of Prṣadhra, Vasiṣṭha should have taken Prṣadhra’s offense very lightly, but instead Vasiṣṭha cursed him to become a  śūdra . It is the duty of a family priest not to