Shloka 256
ययातिदौहित्रपुण्यसमुच्चयः | Yayāti and the Grandsons’ Consolidation of Merit
तस्मादिच्छन्ति दौहित्रान् यथा त्वं वसुधाधिप । 'पृथ्वीनाथ! मैंने भी महान् धर्मका संचय किया है। उसका आधा भाग आप ग्रहण करें। राजन! सब मनुष्य अपनी संतानोंके किये हुए सत्कर्मोके फलके भागी होते हैं। इसीलिये वे दौहित्रोंकी इच्छा करते हैं
tasmād icchanti dauhitrān yathā tvaṁ vasudhādhipa | pṛthvīnatha! mayāpi mahān dharmasañcayaḥ kṛtaḥ | tasya ardhāṁśaṁ bhavān gṛhṇātu | rājan! sarve manuṣyāḥ svasantānaiḥ kṛtasatkarmaphalasya bhāginaḥ bhavanti | tasmād eva te dauhitrān icchanti, yathā tvayā icchitāḥ ||
لذلك يشتاق الناس إلى أحفادٍ من جهة البنات، كما اشتقتَ أنتَ، يا سيّد الأرض. «يا ملك العالم! لقد جمعتُ أنا أيضًا رصيدًا عظيمًا من البرّ؛ فاقبل نصفه. أيها الملك، إن جميع البشر يشتركون في ثمرات الأعمال الصالحة التي يؤديها نسلهم. ولهذا يرغبون في أبناء البنات—كما رغبتَ أنتَ من قبل.»
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that merit (dharma/puṇya) is understood as transmissible in its fruits across generations: people become partakers in the results of their descendants’ good deeds. Hence the cultural emphasis on desiring a dauhitra (daughter’s son), through whom one is believed to share in future merit.
Nārada addresses a king (called ‘lord of the earth’) and explains why people desire grandsons through daughters. He frames it ethically: since one shares in the fruits of descendants’ virtuous actions, the wish for a dauhitra is natural—just as the king himself had once wished.