Shloka 6
आर्जुन–गन्धर्वसंवादः
Arjuna–Gandharva Dialogue on Honor, Night-Power, and Purohita-Nīti
आकाडभक्षन्ते च दौहित्रान् मयि नित्यं पितामहा: । तत् स्वयं वै परित्रास्थे रक्षन्ती जीवितं पितु:,“पितरलोग मुझसे उत्पन्न होनेवाले दौहित्रसे अपने उद्धारकी सदा अभिलाषा रखते हैं, इसलिये मैं स्वयं ही पिताके जीवनकी रक्षा करती हुई उन सबका उद्धार करूँगी
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: ākāḍabhakṣante ca dauhitrān mayi nityaṃ pitāmahāḥ | tat svayaṃ vai paritrāsthe rakṣantī jīvitaṃ pituḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Die Ahnen blicken unablässig auf mich und erhoffen ihre Erlösung durch die Enkel, die aus meiner Linie geboren werden. Darum werde ich selbst für diese Erlösung sorgen, indem ich das Leben meines Vaters schütze.“
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharma as layered obligation: one protects and upholds one’s immediate family (here, the father’s life) while also honoring the wider ancestral line, since continuity of progeny is linked to the welfare and ‘deliverance’ of forefathers.
A female speaker (quoted within Vaiśampāyana’s narration) resolves to safeguard her father’s life, reasoning that her ancestors depend upon her lineage—especially grandsons born through her—for their spiritual welfare; thus she will personally act to secure both her father’s survival and the ancestors’ hoped-for deliverance.