Shloka 77
Adhyāya 123 — Droṇa’s Pedagogy: Arjuna’s Preeminence, Ekalavya’s Self-Training, and the Bhāsa-Lakṣya Trial
नातश्षतुर्थ प्रसवमापत्स्वपि वदन्त्युत । अतः: परं स्वैरिणी स्थाद् बन्धकी पञ्चमे भवेत्
Vaiśampāyana uvāca | nātaś caturtha-prasavam āpatsu api vadanty uta | ataḥ paraṁ svairiṇī syād bandhakī pañcame bhavet ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O noble prince! Even in times of distress, the śāstras do not approve the begetting of a fourth child beyond the permitted limit. Therefore, if a woman seeks offspring beyond that measure, she is deemed ‘svairiṇī’ (one who acts by her own will, outside restraint); and upon the birth of a fifth child, she is regarded as ‘bandhakī’—a woman of disrepute.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts that dharma-śāstra places limits on procreation and that even in hardship (āpatsu) one should not transgress prescribed boundaries; exceeding them is framed as a moral and social lapse.
Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, cites a normative śāstric rule: seeking offspring beyond the allowed number is censured, with escalating labels (‘svairiṇī’, then ‘bandhakī’) used to mark increasing transgression.