Shloka 24
Indraprastha Prosperity and the Arjuna–Kṛṣṇa Yamunā Excursion (इन्द्रप्रस्थ-वैभवम् तथा यमुनाविहारः)
पत्रिका हेतुविधिना संज्ञिता भरतर्षभ | तस्मादेक: सुतो यो<स्यां जायते भारत त्वया,“यद्यपि यह पुत्री है, तो भी हेतुविधिसे (अर्थात् इससे जो प्रथम पुत्र होगा, वह मेरा ही पुत्र माना जायगा, इस हेतुसे) मैंने इसे पुत्रकी संज्ञा दे रखी है। भरतश्रेष्ठ! तुम्हारे द्वारा इसके गर्भसे जो एक पुत्र उत्पन्न हो, वह यहीं रहकर इस कुलपरम्पराका प्रवर्तक हो; इस कन्याके विवाहका यही शुल्क आपको देना होगा। पाण्डुनन्दन! इसी शर्तके अनुसार आप इसे ग्रहण करें!
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
patrikā hetuvidhinā saṃjñitā bharatarṣabha |
tasmād ekaḥ suto yo 'syāṃ jāyate bhārata tvayā ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O bull among the Bharatas, this maiden has been formally designated as a ‘son’ by a legal stipulation. Therefore, the one son who is born from her through you, O Bhārata, is to be regarded accordingly—so that the lineage and its obligations are preserved by prior agreement.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a dharmic-legal principle: social and familial duties (especially lineage continuity) can be safeguarded through explicit stipulations in marriage arrangements, where status and inheritance are defined by prior agreement.
Vaiśampāyana reports a condition attached to a marriage: the maiden has been formally treated as a ‘son’ for purposes of lineage, so that the first son born from her through the groom will fulfill the intended role in continuing the family line as specified.