Shloka 58
Adhyāya 90: Babhruvāhana’s Reception and the Commencement of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Aśvamedha
पुत्रार्थो विहितो होष वार्धके परिपालनम् | श्रुतिरेषा हि विप्रषें त्रिषु लोकेषु शाश्वती,पुत्र होनेका यही फल है कि वह वृद्धावस्थामें पिताकी रक्षा करे। ब्रह्मर्षे! तीनों लोकोंमें यह सनातन श्रुति प्रसिद्ध है
putrārtho vihito hoṣa vārdhake paripālanam | śrutir eṣā hi vipraṛṣe triṣu lokeṣu śāśvatī ||
Der Sohn sprach: „O ehrwürdiger Weiser! Der eigentliche Zweck, zu dem ein Sohn vorgeschrieben ist, ist dieser: dass er den Vater im Alter schütze und versorge. O Brahmarṣi, dies ist eine ewige Lehre der śruti, gerühmt in den drei Welten.“
पुत्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
That the dharmic purpose of having a son includes the obligation to protect, maintain, and personally care for one’s father in old age; this duty is grounded in śruti (Vedic authority) and treated as universally valid.
A son is speaking to a revered Brahmarṣi, justifying or affirming a course of action by citing an established śruti principle: filial responsibility—especially the care of parents in their vulnerable old age—is a timeless norm recognized across the three worlds.