Shloka 13
जहाँ आजके लिये और कल सबेरेके लिये भी भोजन दिखायी नहीं देता, उससे बढ़कर महान् पापपूर्ण कोई दूसरी अवस्था नहीं है, ऐसा शम्बरासुरका कथन है ।। पतिपुत्रवधादेतत् परमं दुःखमत्रवीत् | दारिद्रयमिति यत् प्रोक्त पर्यायमरणं हि तत्,जिसका नाम दरिद्रता है, उसे पति और पुत्रके वधसे भी अधिक दुःखदायक बताया गया है। दरिद्रता मृत्युका समानार्थक शब्द है
patiputravadhād etat paramaṁ duḥkham atravīt | dāridryam iti yat proktaṁ paryāya-maraṇaṁ hi tat ||
The son said: “Śambara declared that there is no condition more grievous and blameworthy than this—where one sees no meal for today, nor even the morning meal for tomorrow. And here the greatest sorrow is called ‘poverty’: it is said to be more painful even than the killing of one’s husband and son. Indeed, ‘poverty’ is spoken of as a synonym for death.”
पुत्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that destitution (dāridrya) can be experienced as the most extreme form of suffering—so severe that it is likened to death itself—highlighting the ethical urgency of alleviating poverty and recognizing its dehumanizing force.
A son speaks, emphasizing a maxim attributed (in the received gloss) to Śambarāsura: when there is no food visible even for today or tomorrow morning, that condition—poverty—is proclaimed the greatest misery, even exceeding the grief of losing husband and son.