Shloka 37
Bhāgīratha’s Tapas and the Petition to Gaṅgā (गङ्गावतरण-प्रसङ्गः)
कापिलं तेज आसाद्य मत्कृते निधनं गता: । तव चापि पिता तात परित्यक्तो मयानघ । धर्म संरक्षमाणेन पौरणां हितमिच्छता,उन्हें भस्म हुआ देख महातपस्वी नारदजी राजा सगरके समीप आये और उनसे सब समाचार निवेदित किया। मुनिके मुखसे निकले हुए इस घोर वचनको सुनकर राजा सगर दो घड़ीतक अनमने हो महादेवजीके कथनपर विचार करते रहे। पुत्रकी मृत्युजनित वेदनासे अत्यन्त दुखी हो स्वयं ही अपने-आपको सान्त्वना दे उन्होंने अश्वको ही दूँढ़नेका विचार किया। भरतश्रेष्ठ] तदनन्तर असमञ्जसके पुत्र अपने पौत्र अंशुमान्को बुलाकर यह बात कही--“तात! मेरे अमिततेजस्वी साठ हजार पुत्र मेरे ही लिये महर्षि कपिलकी क्रोधाग्निमें पड़कर नष्ट हो गये। अनघ! पुरवासियोंके हितकी रक्षा रखकर धर्मकी रक्षा करते हुए मैंने तुम्हारे पिताको भी त्याग दिया है”
kāpilaṃ teja āsādya matkṛte nidhanaṃ gatāḥ | tava cāpi pitā tāta parityakto mayānagha | dharmaṃ saṃrakṣamāṇena paurāṇāṃ hitam icchatā ||
“Having encountered the fiery power of Kapila, they met their death because of me. And you too, dear child—your father was abandoned by me, blameless one. For, while striving to safeguard dharma and seeking the welfare of the citizens, I made that choice.”
लोगश उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames royal action as morally weighty: a king may act for dharma and public welfare, yet must still acknowledge personal responsibility for the suffering that follows. It highlights the tension between statecraft (protecting citizens and dharma) and the ethical burden of consequential harm.
King Sagara addresses his grandson Anśumān, lamenting that his sixty thousand sons perished after encountering Kapila’s blazing power, and confessing that he had earlier abandoned Anśumān’s father (Asamañjasa) while pursuing what he believed to be the protection of dharma and the welfare of the people.