Shloka 5
Droṇa–Drupada Saṃvāda and Droṇa’s Reception at the Kuru Court (द्रोण-द्रुपद-संवादः; कुरुनगरप्रवेशः)
यद् ब्रूयात् तत् तथा कार्यमिति वेदविदो विदु: । विशेषत: पुत्रगृध्यी हीन: प्रजननात् स्वयम्
vaiśampāyana uvāca | yad brūyāt tat tathā kāryam iti vedavido viduḥ | viśeṣataḥ putragṛdhī hīnaḥ prajananāt svayam |
Vaiśampāyana said: “Whatever a husband may say, that is to be carried out exactly so—thus do the knowers of the Veda declare. This is especially so when the husband is eager for a son yet is himself deficient in the power of procreation.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharma-claim grounded in Vedic authority: a wife is enjoined to carry out her husband’s directive, particularly when the directive concerns securing offspring for a husband who desires a son but cannot beget one himself—an ethical rationale that supports the later practice of niyoga in the narrative.
Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, states a normative principle about marital obedience and highlights a special case: a son-seeking but impotent/infertile husband. This sets up the story-context in which a husband may request his wife to obtain progeny through an appointed means.