Shloka 2
Vasiṣṭhasya śokaḥ, Vipāśā–Śatadrū-nāmākaraṇam, Kalmāṣapādasya bhaya-prasaṅgaḥ (Ādi Parva 167)
पुत्रजन्म परीप्सन् वै शोकोपहतचेतन: । नास्ति श्रेष्ठमपत्यं मे इति नित्यमचिन्तयत्,वे अपने लिये एक श्रेष्ठ पुत्र चाहते थे। उनका चित्त शोकसे व्याकुल रहता था। वे रात- दिन इसी चिन्तामें पड़े रहते थे कि मेरे कोई श्रेष्ठ संतान नहीं है
putrajanma parīpsan vai śokopahatacetanaḥ | nāsti śreṣṭham apatyaṃ me iti nityam acintayat |
In Sehnsucht nach der Geburt eines Sohnes war sein Geist von Kummer überwältigt. Unablässig, bei Tag und bei Nacht, sann er: „Ich habe keine würdige Nachkommenschaft.“
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how intense attachment to a desired outcome—here, ‘excellent offspring’—can dominate the mind and generate ongoing sorrow. Ethically, it points to the need for steadiness (mental balance) and discernment: duties and aspirations should not become obsessive fixations that erode inner clarity.
A brāhmaṇa, distressed at not having a worthy child, yearns for a son’s birth. His grief overwhelms him, and he repeatedly thinks that he has no excellent progeny, setting the emotional and narrative background for subsequent events driven by this longing.