Shloka 55
Śakuntalā-Janma-Nāmakaraṇa (Birth and Naming of Śakuntalā) | शकुन्तला-जन्म-नामकरणम्
भयो महाभयश्चैव मृत्युर्भूतान्तकस्तथा । न तस्य भार्या पुत्रो वा कश्चिदस्त्यन्तको हि सः,उनके नाम इस प्रकार हैं--भय, महाभय और मृत्यु। उनमें मृत्यु समस्त प्राणियोंका अन्त करनेवाला है। उसके पत्नी या पुत्र कोई नहीं है, क्योंकि वह सबका अन्त करनेवाला है
bhayo mahābhayaś caiva mṛtyur bhūtāntakas tathā | na tasya bhāryā putro vā kaścid asty antako hi saḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Es gibt Wesen namens Bhaya, Mahābhaya und Mṛtyu. Unter ihnen ist Mṛtyu der ‚Beender der Wesen‘, der alle Lebenden an ihr Ende führt. Darum hat er weder Gattin noch Sohn, denn er selbst ist das Prinzip des Endes für alle.“
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the inevitability and universality of death: Mṛtyu is defined as the end of all beings, and therefore stands outside ordinary social continuities like spouse and offspring. It frames death not merely as an event but as a cosmic function within the moral and natural order.
Vaiśampāyana is listing and characterizing personified forces—Fear, Great Fear, and Death—highlighting Death (Mṛtyu) as Bhūtāntaka/Antaka, the terminator of all creatures, and stating that he has no wife or son because his role is to end all.