Shloka 52
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
आत्ममांसोपवृत्तं च शरीरार्धमयीं तनुम् । पितृणां वंशकर्तरिं वने त्यक्त्वा क्व यास्यथ
ātmamāṃsopavṛttaṃ ca śarīrārdhamayīṃ tanum | pitṝṇāṃ vaṃśakartarīṃ vane tyaktvā kva yāsyatha ||
Jambuka said: “This child is sustained by your own flesh and blood—like half of your very body—and is the one who will continue the lineage of your ancestors. Having abandoned him in the forest, where do you think you can go?”
जम्बुक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts a strong ethical claim: one’s child is not separate from oneself (like half one’s body) and is the bearer of ancestral continuity; therefore abandoning the child is a grave breach of familial and ancestral duty (dharma).
Jambuka confronts someone who has left a child in the forest, arguing that the child—born of their own flesh and blood and essential for continuing the ancestors’ lineage—cannot be cast away, and challenges them: after such an act, where could they go (morally or socially) without blame?