Shloka 24
Āśramadharma and the Marks of the Muni
Yayāti–Aṣṭaka Saṃvāda
मम ज्येछेन यदुना नियोगो नानुपालित: । प्रतिकूल: पितुर्यश्ष न स पुत्र: सतां मत:,मेरे ज्येष्ठ पुत्र यदुने मेरी आज्ञाका पालन नहीं किया है। जो पिताके प्रतिकूल हो, वह सत्पुरुषोंकी दृष्टिमें पुत्र नहीं माना गया है
mama jyeṣṭhena yadunā niyogo nānupālitaḥ | pratikūlaḥ pitur yaś ca na sa putraḥ satāṃ mataḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Mein ältester Sohn Yadu hat den ihm anvertrauten Befehl nicht ausgeführt. Wer sich gegen seinen Vater stellt, gilt im Urteil der Tugendhaften nicht als wahrer Sohn.“
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts an ethical norm: a son’s legitimacy, in the eyes of the virtuous, is tied to honoring and obeying the father’s rightful injunction (niyoga). Deliberate opposition to the father is treated as a grave breach of dharma, undermining the very status of ‘son’ in moral terms.
Vaiśaṃpāyana reports a judgment about Yadu: though the eldest, he failed to follow a command given to him. This disobedience is framed not merely as personal defiance but as a dharmic fault, leading to the pronouncement that one who is contrary to his father is not counted as a son by the good.