Shloka 19
उद्योगपर्व अध्याय १३३ — संजये मातृउपदेशः
Udyoga Parva Adhyaya 133 — A Mother’s Counsel to Saṃjaya
नेति चेद् ब्राह्मण ब्रूयां दीयेंत हृदयं मम । नहाहं न च मे भर्ता नेति ब्राह्मणमुक्तवान्
neti ced brāhmaṇa brūyāṃ dīyeta hṛdayaṃ mama | na hy ahaṃ na ca me bhartā neti brāhmaṇam uktavān |
যদি কোনো ব্রাহ্মণ চাইলে আমি তার অভীষ্ট বস্তু দিতে ‘না’ বলি, তবে সেই মুহূর্তেই আমার হৃদয় বিদীর্ণ হবে; কারণ আমি কখনও, আর আমার স্বামীও কখনও, কোনো ব্রাহ্মণকে ‘না’ বলেননি।
पुत्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse upholds the dharma of dāna: a householder should not turn away a worthy supplicant—especially a brahmin—because refusal is portrayed as a moral wound to one’s conscience and a breach of long-held ethical discipline.
A son reports (or quotes) a woman’s vow-like statement: she declares that saying ‘no’ to a brahmin’s request would shatter her heart, and she emphasizes that neither she nor her husband has ever refused a brahmin, highlighting their established practice of generosity.