Shloka 733
अप्रभुत्वे स्थितौ वृद्धावन्नं प्रार्थयत: सुतान् । जब पिता और माता उत्सवशून्यकी भाँति थक जाते हैं, तब घरमें उनकी कोई प्रभुता नहीं रह जाती। वे दोनों बूढ़े दम्पति बेटोंसे अन्नकी भीख माँगते हैं
aprabhutve sthitau vṛddhāv annaṃ prārthayataḥ sutān |
Śakra said: “When aged parents fall into a state of powerlessness, they must beg their own sons for food. Thus, when father and mother grow weary and neglected, their authority in the household disappears, and the old couple is reduced to pleading for mere sustenance.”
शक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
Children, especially sons in the traditional household frame, must uphold their dharma by supporting and honoring aged parents; neglect reduces parents to humiliation and hunger, which is portrayed as a moral failure of the family.
Śakra (Indra) states a social-ethical observation: when parents become old and lose household authority, they may be forced to ask their sons even for food—highlighting the tragedy of neglect and the need for righteous conduct toward elders.