Shloka 52
आदि पर्व, अध्याय 96 — काश्यकन्याहरणं, शाल्वसमागमः, अम्बावचनं च
Kāśī princesses taken; encounter with Śālva; Ambā’s declaration
विचित्रवीर्यस्त्वनपत्य एव विदेहत्वं प्राप्त: | ततः: सत्यवत्यचिन्तयन्मा दौष्यन्तो वंश उच्छेदं व्रजेदिति,विचित्रवीर्यके अभी कोई संतान नहीं हुई थी, तभी उनका देहावसान हो गया। तब सत्यवतीको यह चिन्ता हुई कि *राजा दुष्यन्तका यह वंश नष्ट न हो जाय”
vaicitravīryas tv anapatya eva videhatvaṃ prāptaḥ | tataḥ satyavatī acintayan mā dauṣyanto vaṃśa ucchedaṃ vrajed iti |
Vaiśampāyana said: Vicitravīrya died without leaving any offspring. Then Satyavatī became anxious, thinking, “May the line of Duṣyanta not come to extinction.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores a key royal-ethical concern in the Mahābhārata: safeguarding dynastic continuity is treated as a dharmic responsibility, and the extinction of a righteous lineage is viewed as a grave social and political loss.
Vicitravīrya dies childless. Satyavatī, fearing the extinction of Duṣyanta’s line (the Kuru/Paurava succession), begins to deliberate on how to prevent the dynasty from ending—setting the stage for measures to secure heirs.