Shloka 56
शुक्र उवाच किं ते प्रियं करवाण्यद्य वत्से वधेन मे जीवितं स्थात् कचस्य । नान्यत्र कुक्षेमम भेदनेन दृश्येत् कचो मद्गतो देवयानि,शुक्राचार्य बोले--बेटी देवयानी! अब तुम्हारे लिये कौन-सा प्रिय कार्य करूँ? मेरे वधसे ही कचका जीवित होना सम्भव है। मेरे उदरको विदीर्ण करनेके सिवा और कोई ऐसा उपाय नहीं है, जिससे मेरे शरीरमें बैठा हुआ कच बाहर दिखायी दे
śukra uvāca | kiṃ te priyaṃ karavāṇy adya vatse vadhena me jīvitaṃ sthāt kacasya | nānyatra kukṣemamabhedanena dṛśyet kaco madgato devayāni ||
Śukra said: “My child, Devayānī, what dear thing shall I do for you today? Only by my own death can Kaca’s life be restored. There is no other means—except by splitting open my belly—by which Kaca, who has entered into me, could be seen and brought out.”
शुक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical weight of self-sacrifice and a teacher’s responsibility: Śukra recognizes that saving Kaca would require the gravest personal cost, and he speaks truthfully about the limits of possible action rather than offering false comfort.
Devayānī asks her father Śukra to do what is dear to her—restore Kaca. Śukra explains that Kaca is inside his body, so Kaca’s survival would be possible only if Śukra himself were killed and his abdomen split open; otherwise there is no way to bring Kaca out.