Shloka 57

Matsya Purana — Dynastic Genealogies: Paurava–Anu Lines

Devanagari script

काष्ठे समुद्गे प्रक्षिप्य गङ्गाम्भसि समुत्सृजत् यस्मात्त्वमन्धो वृद्धश्च भर्तव्यो दुरधिष्ठितः //

Transliteration

kāṣṭhe samudge prakṣipya gaṅgāmbhasi samutsṛjat yasmāttvamandho vṛddhaśca bhartavyo duradhiṣṭhitaḥ //

Translation

Placing him in a wooden chest, she cast him into the waters of the Gaṅgā, saying: “Because you are blind and old—hard to manage—you must be maintained as a burden.”

Word by Word

• काष्ठे: in/with wood, wooden

• समुद्गे: in a chest/box (a coffer)

• प्रक्षिप्य: having put/placed (inside)

• गङ्गाम्भसि: in the waters of the Gaṅgā

• समुत्सृजत्: she threw away/cast off/abandoned

• यस्मात्: because/since

• त्वम्: you

• अन्धः: blind

• वृद्धः: old/aged

• च: and

• भर्तव्यः: to be supported/maintained

• दुरधिष्ठितः: difficult to control/manage, troublesome to look after

Speaker

• Narrator (Purāṇic storyteller, likely Sūta’s narration within the Matsya Purāṇa frame)

Entities Mentioned

• Gaṅgā

Tags

• Dharma
• Householder Duties
• Ethics
• Family Responsibility
• Nīti

FAQs

What does this verse reveal about the creation or dissolution (Pralaya)?

This verse is not about Pralaya; it is a dharma-focused moral scene describing abandonment of a blind, aged person, highlighting ethical failure rather than cosmic dissolution.

How does this verse relate to the duties of a King or Householder?

It underscores the householder’s (and by extension the ruler’s) duty to protect and maintain the vulnerable—especially the blind and elderly—condemning cruelty and abandonment as adharma.

What is the architectural or ritual significance mentioned here?

No Vāstu or ritual procedure is taught here; the only concrete detail is the act of placing someone in a wooden chest and casting it into the Gaṅgā, used as a narrative device to stress moral wrongdoing.