Shloka 7
Śakuntalā-Janma-Nāmakaraṇa (Birth and Naming of Śakuntalā) | शकुन्तला-जन्म-नामकरणम्
राक्षसाश्च पुलस्त्यस्य वानरा: किन्नरास्तथा | यक्षाश्न मनुजव्यात्र पुत्रास्तस्य च धीमत:,नरश्रेष्ठ! बुद्धिमान् पुलस्त्य मुनिके पुत्र राक्षस, वानर, किन्नर तथा यक्ष हैं
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: rākṣasāś ca pulastyasya vānarāḥ kinnarās tathā | yakṣāś ca manuṣa-vyāghra putrās tasya ca dhīmataḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O tiger among men, from the wise Pulastya were born sons belonging to many orders of beings—Rākṣasas, Vānaras, Kinnaras, and Yakṣas.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the Mahābhārata’s vision of a layered cosmos: diverse communities of beings are traced to revered sages, suggesting that power and nature (even when fearsome) arise within an ordered lineage rather than outside dharmic creation.
Vaiśampāyana continues a genealogical account, telling the listener that the sage Pulastya had offspring who became various classes of beings—Rākṣasas, Vānaras, Kinnaras, and Yakṣas—thereby situating these groups within the broader sacred family-tree.