Shloka 4
सुक्षेत्राच्च सुबीजाच्च पुण्यो भवति सम्भव: । अतोथ<न्यतरतो हीनादवरो नाम जायते,उत्तम क्षेत्र और उत्तम बीजसे जो जन्म होता है, वह पवित्र ही होता है। यदि क्षेत्र और बीजमेंसे एक भी निम्नकोटिका हो तो उससे निम्न संतानकी ही उत्पत्ति होती है
sukṣetrāc ca subījāc ca puṇyo bhavati sambhavaḥ | ato ’nyatarato hīnād avaro nāma jāyate ||
Parāśara said: “From a noble field and a noble seed, the birth that arises is indeed pure. But if either the field or the seed is inferior, then what is born is known to be inferior.”
पराशर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that the moral and qualitative outcome of birth depends on both causes: the 'field' (nurturing ground/womb/environment) and the 'seed' (generative source/lineage). Excellence in both yields a 'pure' outcome; deficiency in either tends toward an inferior result—an ethical statement about causality and responsibility in procreation and upbringing.
In Śānti Parva’s instructional setting, Parāśara delivers a didactic maxim using agricultural metaphor—field and seed—to explain how qualities are transmitted and formed, linking social and ethical outcomes to the conditions of origin.