Shloka 100
धर्मकीर्त्यावहा नृणां मनस: प्रीतिवर्धना: । त्रायन्ते नरकाज्जाता: पुत्रा धर्मप्लवा: पितृन्,ये सभी पुत्र मनुष्योंको धर्म और कीर्तिकी प्राप्ति करानेवाले तथा मनकी प्रसन्नताको बढ़ानेवाले होते हैं। पुत्र धर्मरूपी नौकाका आश्रय ले अपने पितरोंका नरकसे उद्धार कर देते हैं
dharmakīrtyāvahā nṝṇāṁ manasaḥ prītivardhanāḥ | trāyante narakāj jātāḥ putrā dharmaplavāḥ pitṝn ||
Duṣyanta said: “Sons bring men dharma and good repute, and they increase the heart’s joy. Born into a family, they become a ‘boat of dharma’ by which they rescue their forefathers from hell.”
दुष्यन्त उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents progeny—especially sons in the traditional lineage framework—as a source of dharma and honorable reputation, and as a means of fulfilling obligations to ancestors. Ethically, it emphasizes responsibility across generations: one’s family duties and righteous conduct are portrayed as having consequences for both the living and the departed.
Duṣyanta is speaking in the Śakuntalā episode context, where questions of marriage, recognition, and lineage are central. In this line he underscores the value of a son: not merely as an heir, but as one who brings joy, social honor, and religious merit, and who—through dharmic continuity and ancestral obligations—can be said to ‘save’ forefathers from suffering.