Shloka 26
Śama-prāptiḥ — Gautamī–Lubdhaka–Pannaga–Mṛtyu–Kāla-saṃvāda
Restraint through the Analysis of Karma and Time
गौतम्युवाच आर्तिनिवं विद्यते3स्मद्विधानां धर्मात्मान: सर्वदा सज्जना हि । नित्यायस्तो बालको<प्यस्य तस्मा- दीशे नाहं पन्नगस्य प्रमाथे,गौतमी बोली--अर्जुनक! हम-जैसे लोगोंको कभी किसी तरहकी हानिसे भी पीड़ा नहीं होती। धर्मात्मा सज्जन पुरुष सदा धर्ममें ही लगे रहते हैं। मेरा यह बालक सर्वथा मरनेहीवाला था; इसलिये मैं इस सर्पको मारनेमें असमर्थ हूँ
gautamy uvāca — ārti-nivṛttiḥ vidyate ’smad-vidhānāṃ; dharmātmānaḥ sarvadā sajjanā hi. nityāyattaḥ bālako ’py asya; tasmād īśe nāhaṃ pannagasya pramāthe.
Gautamī said: “For people like us, there is a freedom from anguish; for the righteous and the good are always steadfast in dharma. Even this child was bound to die in due course; therefore I am not able—nor do I deem it right—to destroy the serpent.”
लुब्धक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches restraint and dharmic composure: the righteous do not let personal grief drive them into retaliatory violence, recognizing mortality as inevitable and choosing compassion over vengeance.
Gautamī responds to the situation of her child’s death involving a serpent. Instead of urging the serpent’s killing, she declares that her child was destined to die and that she will not participate in destroying the serpent, grounding her response in dharma.