Ashtavakra's Birth and Curse by His Father
Yudhishthira asks Lomasha to explain the power of the brahmana who vanquished Bandi and why he was born with eight deformities. Lomasha tells the story: Kahoda, a devoted disciple of Uddalaka, marries Uddalaka's daughter Sujata, and their unborn child — radiant as fire — speaks from the womb to correct his father's recitation. Insulted before his own students, Kahoda curses the child to be crooked in eight ways.
Yudhishthira asked Lomasha: "What was the power of the brahmana who vanquished Bandi? Why was he born as Ashtavakra? Tell me everything accurately."
Lomasha replied.
Uddalaka had a self-controlled disciple named Kahoda. He served his preceptor with devotion and studied for a long time. There were many brahmanas who served as disciples, but Uddalaka knew Kahoda to be the one. He gave him all his knowledge — and his daughter Sujata as a wife.
Sujata conceived. The child inside her was radiant as fire.
One night, as Kahoda studied aloud, the unborn child spoke. "O father! You have studied all night. But you are not right."
Kahoda was insulted — before his own students, a voice from the womb had corrected him. He cursed the child who was still inside. "Since you spoke while you were still inside, you will be crooked in eight ways."
The child was born exactly as Kahoda had spoken. Eight deformities marked his body. He became known as Ashtavakra — "eight bends."
His maternal uncle was Shvetaketu, equal to him in age.
While her son grew inside her, Sujata was extremely distressed. She was poor and desired riches. In a conciliatory tone, she spoke privately to her husband. "O maharshi! What will we do without riches? The tenth month is upon me. You have no riches. Once the delivery takes place, how will we overcome the calamity that confronts us?"
Having been addressed thus by his wife, Kahoda went to King Janaka to seek riches. Bandi was skilled in debate. The brahmana Kahoda was defeated by him and drowned in the waters. Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 429