Shloka 77

Devanagari script

नातश्षतुर्थ प्रसवमापत्स्वपि वदन्त्युत । अतः: परं स्वैरिणी स्थाद्‌ बन्धकी पञ्चमे भवेत्‌,“आर्यपुत्र! आपत्तिकालमें भी तीनसे अधिक चौथी संतान उत्पन्न करनेकी आज्ञा शास्त्रोंने नहीं दी है। इस विधिके द्वारा तीनसे अधिक चौथी संतान चाहनेवाली स्त्री स्वैरिणी होती है और पाँचवें पुत्रके उत्पन्न होनेपर तो वह कुलटा समझी जाती है

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca | nātaś caturtha-prasavam āpatsu api vadanty uta | ataḥ paraṁ svairiṇī syād bandhakī pañcame bhavet ||

Translation

কুন্তী বললেন—“আর্যপুত্র! আপৎকালে-ও শাস্ত্র তিনের অধিক চতুর্থ সন্তান উৎপন্ন করাকে অনুমোদন করে না। অতএব এই সীমা অতিক্রম করে সন্তান কামনা করলে নারী ‘স্বৈরিণী’ বলে গণ্য হয়; আর পঞ্চম সন্তান জন্মালে সে ‘বন্ধকী’—কুলকলঙ্কিনী—রূপে বিবেচিত হয়।”

Word by Word

नnot

अतःtherefore; from this

चतुर्थम्fourth

प्रसवम्childbirth; begetting; offspring (act of giving birth)

आपत्सुin calamities; in times of distress

अपिeven; also

वदन्तिthey say; they prescribe

उतand; moreover (emphatic particle)

अतःtherefore

परम्after that; beyond; further

स्वैरिणीa wanton woman; a woman acting at her own will

स्यात्would be; should be

बन्धकीa kept woman; concubine (lit. bound/attached woman)

पञ्चमेin/at the fifth (i.e., on the fifth child)

भवेत्would become; should become

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse asserts that dharma-śāstra places limits on procreation and that even in hardship (āpatsu) one should not transgress prescribed boundaries; exceeding them is framed as a moral and social lapse.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, cites a normative śāstric rule: seeking offspring beyond the allowed number is censured, with escalating labels (‘svairiṇī’, then ‘bandhakī’) used to mark increasing transgression.