Shloka 5
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 148: Vāsudeva’s Report—Mobilization and the Nīti Sequence
Sāma–Bheda–Daṇḍa
पूरुर्यवीयांश्व॒ ततो यो5स्माकं वंशवर्धन: । शर्मिष्ठया सम्प्रसूतो दुहित्रा वृषपर्वण:
pūrur yavīyān ca tato yo ’smākaṃ vaṃśa-vardhanaḥ | śarmiṣṭhayā samprasūto duhitṛā vṛṣaparvaṇaḥ ||
“And then there was Pūru, the youngest, who became the increaser of our lineage. He was born of Śarmiṣṭhā, the daughter of Vṛṣaparvan.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical and political importance of lineage-continuity: a dynasty is remembered and strengthened through the worthy successor who ‘increases’ the family line, not merely through birth order or power.
Vāyudeva identifies Pūru as the youngest yet the key continuer of the speaker’s lineage, specifying his mother Śarmiṣṭhā and her father Vṛṣaparvan to situate Pūru precisely within the genealogical account.