Shloka 51
Pāṇḍu’s Marriages, Conquests, and Triumphal Return (पाण्डोर्विवाह-विजय-प्रत्यागमनम्)
भरतानां समुच्छेदो व्यक्त मद्धाग्यसंक्षयात् व्यथितां मां च सम्प्रेक्ष्य पितृवंशं च पीडितम्
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
bharatānāṃ samucchedo vyaktaṃ madbhāgyasaṃkṣayāt |
vyathitāṃ māṃ ca samprekṣya pitṛvaṃśaṃ ca pīḍitam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “With the wasting away of my own fortune, the extinction of the Bharata line is now plainly in view. Seeing me distressed and the ancestral lineage afflicted, Bhīṣma has proposed a course for the increase of this family. Daughter, the success of that counsel rests with you. Act as Bhīṣma has advised and bring me to that condition in which I may behold the fulfillment of my cherished aim.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage foregrounds the dharmic responsibility to protect the continuity and well-being of one’s lineage and kingdom. Personal misfortune is framed as a public crisis when it threatens the ancestral line; therefore wise counsel (here, Bhīṣma’s) and cooperative action are presented as ethical necessities for restoring stability.
A speaker laments that the Bharata line is heading toward extinction due to the collapse of his own fortune. Observing both his distress and the suffering of the ancestral lineage, Bhīṣma proposes a plan to increase the family. The addressed ‘daughter’ is told that the plan’s success depends on her, and she is urged to act so that the speaker may see his desired goal fulfilled.