Shloka 42
Pāṇḍu’s Marriages, Conquests, and Triumphal Return (पाण्डोर्विवाह-विजय-प्रत्यागमनम्)
व्यासजीने कहा--माता सत्यवती! आप पर और अपर दोनों प्रकारके धर्मोंको जानती हैं। महाप्राज्ञे! आपकी बुद्धि सदा धर्ममें लगी रहती है। अतः मैं आपकी अज्ञासे धर्मको ही दृष्टिमें रखकर (कामके वश न होकर ही) आपकी इच्छाके अनुरूप कार्य करूँगा। यह सनातन मार्ग शास्त्रोंमें देखा गया है। मैं अपने भाईके लिये मित्र और वरुणके समान तेजस्वी पुत्र उत्पन्न करूँगा ।। ३९ “४१ ।। व्रतं चरेतां ते देव्यौ निर्दिष्टमिह यन्मया । संवत्सरं यथान्यायं ततः शुद्धे भविष्यत:
vyāsa uvāca—mātaḥ satyavati, tvam ubhayavidhaṃ dharmaṃ jānāsi; mahāprājñe, tava buddhir nityaṃ dharme niveśitā. ataḥ tava ājñayā dharmam eva dṛṣṭvā (na kāmavaśāt) tava icchānusāreṇa karma kariṣyāmi. eṣa sanātanaḥ panthāḥ śāstreṣu dṛṣṭaḥ. ahaṃ bhrātuḥ kṛte mitra-varuṇa-sadṛśa-tejasvinaṃ putraṃ janayiṣyāmi. vṛtaṃ caretāṃ te devyau nirdiṣṭam iha yan mayā; saṃvatsaraṃ yathānyāyaṃ tataḥ śuddhe bhaviṣyataḥ.
Vyāsa said: “Mother Satyavatī, you understand both the higher and the practical forms of dharma. O great-minded one, your intellect is always anchored in righteousness. Therefore, with your permission, keeping dharma alone in view—and not acting under the compulsion of desire—I shall do what you wish. This is an ancient path attested in the scriptures. For my brother’s sake I will beget a son, radiant like Mitra and Varuṇa. Let those two noble ladies observe the vow I have prescribed here, for a full year according to rule; then they will become purified.”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames a morally sensitive act as legitimate only when governed by dharma: it must be done with authorization, without personal desire, and in line with scriptural precedent, supported by disciplined vows and purification.
Vyāsa addresses Satyavatī, affirming her dharmic discernment. He agrees—under her permission and not from lust—to beget heirs for his brother’s line, and instructs that the two queens undertake a year-long vow so they become purified and fit for the rite.