Shloka 13
Satyavatī’s Disclosure and the Summoning of Vyāsa
Niyoga for Kuru Succession
जात॑ जातं च सा पुत्र क्षिपत्यम्भसि भारत । प्रीणाम्यहं त्वामित्युक्त्वा गड़ा स्रोतस्यमज्जयत्,भारत! जो-जो पुत्र उत्पन्न होता, उसे वह गंगाजीके जलमें फेंक देती और कहती --“(वत्स! इस प्रकार शापसे मुक्त करके) मैं तुम्हें प्रसन्न कर रही हूँ।” ऐसा कहकर गंगा प्रत्येक बालकको धारामें डुबो देती थी
jātaṁ jātaṁ ca sā putra kṣipaty ambhasi bhārata | prīṇāmy ahaṁ tvām ity uktvā gaṅgā srotasy amajjayat ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “O Bhārata, each time a son was born, she would cast him into the water. Saying, ‘My child, I am pleasing you (by releasing you from the curse),’ Gaṅgā would submerge each infant in the river’s current.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how actions tied to vows, curses, and cosmic law can look unethical on the surface yet be narrated as serving a higher purpose—here, ‘pleasing’ the child by freeing him from a curse. It invites reflection on the complexity of dharma when personal compassion conflicts with prior obligations and metaphysical consequences.
Gaṅgā repeatedly throws each newborn son into the river and submerges him in the current, declaring that she is ‘pleasing’ him—i.e., releasing him from a curse—while Vaiśaṃpāyana recounts this to the Bhārata listener (Janamejaya).