Shloka 34
आदि पर्व — अध्याय ८३: ययाति-इन्द्र-संवादः तथा अष्टक-प्रश्नः
Yayāti–Indra Dialogue and Aṣṭaka’s Inquiry
अभिकामा स्त्रियं यश्न गम्यां रहसि याचित: । नोपैति स च धर्मेषु भ्रूणहेत्युच्यते बुध:,ययाति बोले--भगवन्! दानवराजकी पुत्री मुझसे ऋतुदान माँग रही थी; अतः मैंने धर्म-सम्मत मानकर यह कार्य किया, किसी दूसरे विचारसे नहीं। ब्रह्मन! जो पुरुष न्याययुक्त ऋतुकी याचना करनेवाली स्त्रीको ऋतुदान नहीं देता, वह ब्रह्मवादी दविद्वानोंद्वारा भ्रूणहत्या करनेवाला कहा जाता है। जो न्यायसम्मत कामनासे युक्त गम्या स्त्रीके द्वारा एकान्तमें प्रार्थना करनेपर उसके साथ समागम नहीं करता, वह धर्म-शास्त्रमें विद्वानोंद्वारा गर्भकी हत्या करनेवाला बताया जाता है
abhikāmāṁ striyaṁ yaś ca gamyāṁ rahasi yācitaḥ | nopaiti sa ca dharmeṣu bhrūṇahety ucyate budhaiḥ ||
Śukra said: “If a woman who is lawfully approachable, being in desire, privately requests a man, and he does not go to her, then—according to dharma—the wise declare him to be guilty of ‘embryo-slaying.’”
शुक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a specific sexual/procreative obligation as a matter of dharma: when an eligible woman makes a rightful private request (implicitly connected with conception), refusal is condemned as a grave sin, metaphorically equated with destroying an embryo—i.e., thwarting legitimate procreation.
Śukra is articulating a dharma-based justification and standard: in contexts where a lawful partner seeks union for a legitimate purpose, the man’s refusal is treated by learned authorities as a serious transgression. In the surrounding episode (as reflected in the Gita Press note), this is invoked to defend an act done under the belief of being dharma-sanctioned.