Shloka 12
सोमक–जन्तु उपाख्यानम्
Somaka–Jantu Exemplar: The Quest for a Hundred Sons
सोमक उवाच धिगस्त्विहैकपुत्रत्वमपुत्रत्वं वरं भवेत् । नित्यातुरत्वाद् भूतानां शोक एवैकपुत्रता
Somaka uvāca: dhig astv ihaika-putratvam aputratvaṁ varaṁ bhavet | nityāturatvād bhūtānāṁ śoka evāika-putratā ||
Dijo Somaka: “¡Maldita sea en este mundo la condición de tener un solo hijo; mejor sería no tener ninguno! Pues los seres están siempre expuestos a la aflicción, y cuando hay un único vástago, esa misma ‘unicidad’ no es sino dolor.”
सोमक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores human fragility and the inevitability of suffering; when one’s entire hope is invested in a single child, the constant risks of life turn that attachment into a special source of grief.
Somaka speaks reflectively and critically about the condition of having only one son, arguing that in a world of continual danger and distress, such a situation naturally breeds anxiety and sorrow.