Shloka 5

Chapter 26: Śoka-pratiṣedha, Hata-saṅkhyā, Gati-vibhāga, Pretakārya-ājñā

Restraint of Grief, Count of the Slain, Destinies, and Funerary Directives

Devanagari script

तपोर्थीयं ब्राह्मणी धत्त गर्भ गौवोंढारं धावितारं तुरड्ी । शूद्रा दासं पशुपालं च वैश्या वधार्थीयं त्वद्विधा राजपुत्री,ब्राह्यणी तपके लिये, गाय बोझ ढोनेके लिये, घोड़ी वेगसे दौड़नेके लिये, शूद्रा सेवाके लिये, वैश्य-कन्या पशु-पालन करनेके लिये और तुम-जैसी राजपुत्री युद्धमें लड़कर मरनेके लिये पुत्र पैदा करती है

Transliteration

tapo’rthīyaṃ brāhmaṇī dhatte garbhaṃ govoḍhāraṃ dhāvitāraṃ turaṅgī | śūdrā dāsaṃ paśupālaṃ ca vaiśyā vadhārthīyaṃ tvadvidhā rājaputrī ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Eine brāhmaṇī empfängt ein Kind um der Askese und der heiligen Pflicht willen; eine Kuh gebiert eines, das zum Lastentragen bestimmt ist; eine Stute gebiert eines, das zum schnellen Lauf bestimmt ist; eine śūdrā gebiert einen Diener; eine vaiśyā-Frau gebiert einen Viehhüter. Doch von einer Königstochter wie dir heißt es, sie empfange einen Sohn, der dazu bestimmt ist, in der Schlacht zu fallen.“

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'tapaḥ (tapo-)', 'definition': 'austerity, ascetic discipline

• religious practice'}, {'term': 'arthīya (arthīyam)', 'definition': 'for the sake of

• intended for a purpose'}, {'term': 'brāhmaṇī', 'definition': 'a brāhmaṇa woman'}, {'term': 'dhatte', 'definition': 'bears, conceives, carries (a fetus)'}, {'term': 'garbha', 'definition': 'womb

• pregnancy'}, {'term': 'go-voḍhāra', 'definition': 'burden-carrier (lit. ‘one who carries loads’)

• here applied to cattle/oxen'}, {'term': 'dhāvitāra', 'definition': 'runner

• one who runs swiftly'}, {'term': 'turaṅgī', 'definition': 'mare'}, {'term': 'śūdrā', 'definition': 'a woman of the śūdra varṇa'}, {'term': 'dāsa', 'definition': 'servant

• slave/attendant'}, {'term': 'paśupāla', 'definition': 'herdsman

• cattle-keeper'}, {'term': 'vaiśyā', 'definition': 'a woman of the vaiśya varṇa'}, {'term': 'vadhārthīya (vadhārthīyam)', 'definition': 'intended for death/slaughter

• destined to be killed'}, {'term': 'tvadvidhā', 'definition': 'one like you'}, {'term': 'rājaputrī', 'definition': 'princess

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• brāhmaṇī
• turaṅgī (mare)
• go (cow/cattle)
• śūdrā
• vaiśyā
• rājaputrī (princess)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents a traditional dharma-based view that different social groups (and even animals) are associated with characteristic functions, and it highlights the severe burden of kṣatriya-dharma: royal offspring are expected to face warfare and death for the polity. Ethically, it underscores how duty and social expectation can normalize violence and shape personal tragedy.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Stree Parva’s lamentation setting after the great war, the speaker (Vaiśampāyana) reports a statement that contrasts the ‘purposes’ of childbirth across varṇas and beings, culminating in a pointed remark to a princess: her motherhood is tied to producing a warrior fated to die in battle—intensifying the atmosphere of grief and reflection on the costs of war.