Shloka 7
Babhruvāhana’s Lament and Appeal for Expiation (प्रायश्चित्त-याचना)
नाहं शोचामि तनयं हतं पन्नगनन्दिनि । पतिमेव तु शोचामि यस्यातिथ्यमिदं कृतम्
vaiśampāyana uvāca | nāhaṃ śocāmi tanayaṃ hataṃ pannaganandini | patim eva tu śocāmi yasyātithyam idaṃ kṛtam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O serpent-maiden, I do not grieve for my son who lies slain. I grieve only for my husband—because this has happened after he extended hospitality (to the guest).”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral gravity of atithi-dharma (hospitality): the speaker’s deeper anguish is that harm occurred in the setting of hospitality, bringing ethical blemish and social dishonor upon the husband/household, beyond the personal tragedy of a child’s death.
A woman addresses a serpent-maiden, stating that she is not primarily mourning her slain son; rather, she mourns her husband because the calamity has taken place in connection with hospitality extended to a guest—implying a grievous breach of the expected sanctity of guest-reception.