Shloka 10

Vyādha–Brāhmaṇa Saṃvāda: Śāpa, Vṛtta-Dharma, and Counsel Against Viṣāda

Grief

Devanagari script

कुक्षिणा दश मासांश्व गर्भ संधारयन्ति या:

Transliteration

kukṣiṇā daśa māsāṁś ca garbhaṁ sandhārayanti yāḥ

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “Those women who bear a child in the womb for ten months…”

Word by Word

• कुक्षिणा: by/with the womb (belly)
• कुक्षिणा: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुक्षि
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• दश: ten
• दश: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दशन्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• मासान्: months
• मासान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मास
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• गर्भम्: the embryo/fetus
• गर्भम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: गर्भ
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• संधारयन्ति: they bear/hold (carry)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-धृ
• Form: Present, Third, Plural, Parasmaipada

• याः: who (fem. pl.)
• याः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the prolonged physical and moral labor of motherhood—carrying a fetus for ten months—thereby implying an ethical duty of respect, gratitude, and careful conduct toward one’s mother and toward life sustained through sacrifice.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana is narrating and introduces a reflection on women/mothers who sustain pregnancy for ten months, likely as part of a broader discourse that builds an ethical point by recalling the hardships borne by mothers.