Shloka 26
गड़ाया: सूतविषयं चम्पामनुययौ पुरीम् । स मज्जूषागतो गर्भस्तरज़ैरुह्ममानक:
Gaṅgāyāḥ sūtaviṣayaṃ Campām anuyayau purīm | sa majjūṣā-gato garbhas tarajair ūhya-mānakaḥ ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: Following the course of the Gaṅgā, the child in the womb—placed within a casket—was borne along by the river’s current and came to the city of Campā, in the land of the Sūtas. The scene reveals how fate and providence may preserve life even amid abandonment, and how a community’s realm can become the stage for an unforeseen moral duty toward the helpless.
वैशग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical demand to protect the helpless: even when a life is cast away, it may be preserved by forces beyond human control, and those who encounter it are implicitly called to compassion and responsibility.
A child in the womb, placed inside a casket, is carried by the Gaṅgā’s waves and reaches Campā, a city in the Sūtas’ territory, setting up the next events involving discovery and care.