Shloka 136

Ambā’s Vow of Tapas after Paraśurāma’s Assessment (अम्बाया तपोव्रतनिश्चयः)

Devanagari script

कन्‍्यां प्रवररूपां तु प्राजायत नराधिप । नरेश्वर! पुत्रहीन राजा ट्रपदकी उस महारानीने समय आनेपर एक परम सुन्दरी कन्याको जन्म दिया

Transliteration

kanyāṁ pravararūpāṁ tu prājāyata narādhipa | nareśvara! putrahīno rājā drupadakī sā mahārājñī samaye āgate paramasundarīṁ kanyāṁ janayām āsa ||

Translation

Bhishma said: “O king, in due course the royal queen Drupadakī—though her lord, King Drupada, had no son—gave birth to a daughter of exceptional beauty and noble form. Thus the tale shows that dynastic hopes and anxieties endure even without a male heir, while the birth of a daughter is also held to be significant and auspicious.”

Word by Word

• कन्याम्: a daughter/maiden
• कन्याम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कन्या
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• प्रवररूपाम्: of excellent beauty/form
• प्रवररूपाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रवररूपा (प्रवर + रूप)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• प्राजायत: was born / came into being
• Type: Verb
• Root: जन् (जायते)
• Form: Aorist (Luṅ), 3rd, Singular, Ātmanepada

• नराधिप: O king, lord of men
• Type: Noun
• Root: नराधिप (नर + अधिप)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhishma
• narādhipa/nareśvara (addressed king)
• Drupada
• Drupadakī (queen of Drupada)
• the newborn daughter (kanyā)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the tension between royal expectations of a male heir and the meaningful, auspicious arrival of a daughter, suggesting that worth and destiny are not confined to gendered succession.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma narrates that Queen Drupadakī, wife of the sonless King Drupada, gives birth at the proper time to an extraordinarily beautiful daughter.