Shloka 14
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament for Karṇa and Renunciation-Oriented Self-Assessment (शोक-प्रलापः / त्याग-प्रवृत्तिः)
उपवासैस्तथेज्याभिव्रतकौतुकमड़लै: । लभन्ते मातरो गर्भान् मासान् दश च बिशभ्रति,इह चामुत्र चैवेति कृपणा: फलहेतव: । इसी प्रकार सभी माताएँ उपवास, यज्ञ, व्रत, कौतुक और मंगलमय कृत्योंद्वारा उत्तम पुत्रकी इच्छा रखकर दस महीनोंतक अपने गर्भोका भरण-पोषण करती हैं। उन सबका यही उद्देश्य होता है कि यदि कुशलपूर्वक बच्चे पैदा होंगे, पैदा होनेपर यदि जीवित रहेंगे तथा बलवान होकर यदि अच्छे गुणोंसे सम्पन्न होंगे तो हमें इहलोक और परलोकमें सुख देंगे। इस प्रकार वे दीन माताएँ फलकी आकांक्षा रखती हैं
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | upavāsais tathejābhir vratakautukamaṅgalaiḥ | labhante mātaro garbhān māsān daśa ca bibhrati | iha cāmutra caiveti kṛpaṇāḥ phalahetavaḥ |
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “By fasts, sacrifices, vows, auspicious rites, and celebratory observances, mothers seek to obtain conception; and for ten months they bear and sustain the womb. Thinking, ‘Here and hereafter as well,’ those poor women act with an eye to results—hoping that if the child is born safely, lives, grows strong, and becomes endowed with good qualities, he will bring them happiness in this world and the next.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how even intimate, nurturing acts (pregnancy and child-rearing) are often intertwined with expectation of ‘fruit’—benefit in this world and the next—thus pointing to the ethical tension between selfless care and result-driven motivation (phala-āśā).
Yudhiṣṭhira reflects on mothers performing religious disciplines—fasts, sacrifices, vows, and auspicious rites—to obtain and protect a child, then bearing the pregnancy for ten months, motivated by the hope that a virtuous, strong child will secure happiness for them both here and hereafter.