Shloka 12
सोमक–जन्तु उपाख्यानम्
Somaka–Jantu Exemplar: The Quest for a Hundred Sons
सोमक उवाच धिगस्त्विहैकपुत्रत्वमपुत्रत्वं वरं भवेत् । नित्यातुरत्वाद् भूतानां शोक एवैकपुत्रता
Somaka uvāca: dhig astv ihaika-putratvam aputratvaṁ varaṁ bhavet | nityāturatvād bhūtānāṁ śoka evāika-putratā ||
قال سُوماكا: «قُبحًا لِمَن كان له في هذا العالم ابنٌ واحد؛ بل لَأَنْ يكون بلا ولدٍ خيرٌ له. فإن الكائنات دائمةُ التعرّض للبلاء، فإذا كان للمرء ولدٌ واحدٌ صارت تلك ‘الوحيدية’ نفسَها حزنًا لا غير».
सोमक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores human fragility and the inevitability of suffering; when one’s entire hope is invested in a single child, the constant risks of life turn that attachment into a special source of grief.
Somaka speaks reflectively and critically about the condition of having only one son, arguing that in a world of continual danger and distress, such a situation naturally breeds anxiety and sorrow.