Shloka 40
अध्याय ७४: अक्रोध–क्षमा–निवासनीति
Chapter 74: Non-anger, Forbearance, and the Ethics of Residence
(पुत्रेण लोकाञ्जयति पौत्रेणानन्त्यमश्चुते । अथ पौत्रस्य पुत्रेण मोदन्ते प्रपितामहा: ।।) “मनुष्य पुत्रसे पुण्यलोकोंपर विजय पाता है, पौत्रसे अक्षय सुखका भागी होता है तथा पौत्रके पुत्रसे प्रपितामहगण आनन्दके भागी होते हैं। सा भार्या या गृहे दक्षा सा भार्या या प्रजावती । सा भार्या या पतिप्राणा सा भार्या या पतिव्रता,“वही भार्या है, जो घरके काम-काजमें कुशल हो। वही भार्या है, जो संतानवती हो। वही भार्या है, जो अपने पतिको प्राणोंके समान प्रिय मानती हो और वही भार्या है, जो पतिव्रता हो
putreṇa lokān jayati pautreṇānantyam aśnute | atha pautrasya putreṇa modante prapitāmahāḥ || sā bhāryā yā gṛhe dakṣā sā bhāryā yā prajāvatī | sā bhāryā yā patiprāṇā sā bhāryā yā pativratā ||
Duṣyanta said: “By a son a man conquers the worlds; by a grandson he partakes of unending well-being; and by the son of a grandson the great-grandfathers rejoice. She alone is truly a wife who is capable in the affairs of the household; she alone is a wife who is blessed with offspring; she alone is a wife who holds her husband as dear as her very life; and she alone is a wife who is devoted to her husband in vow and conduct.”
दुष्यन्त उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links household dharma to continuity of lineage: a son brings worldly attainment, a grandson symbolizes enduring welfare, and a great-grandson brings joy to ancestors. It also defines an ideal wife in four traits—household competence, motherhood, deep affection for the husband, and steadfast marital fidelity—presented as ethical norms of the gṛhastha (householder) life.
Duṣyanta is speaking in a context where the value of marriage and progeny is being emphasized. He articulates why offspring matter for a man’s worldly and ancestral fulfillment and then characterizes what qualities constitute a ‘true wife’ within the social-ethical framework of the epic.