Shloka 8
Ruru–Pramadvarā: Lineage, Fosterage, Betrothal, and the Snakebite Crisis (Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 8)
उत्सृज्य चैव त॑ गर्भ नद्यास्तीरे जगाम सा । अप्सरा मेनका ब्रह्मन् निर्दया निरपत्रपा,ब्रह्मन्! निर्दय और निर्लज्ज मेनका अप्सरा उस नवजात गर्भको वहीं नदीके तटपर छोड़कर चली गयी इति श्रीमहाभारते आदिपर्वणि पौलोमपर्वणि प्रमद्वरासर्पदंशे5ष्टमो5ध्याय:
utsṛjya caiva taṁ garbhaṁ nadyās tīre jagāma sā | apsarā menakā brahman nirdāyā nirapatrapā ||
Ô brahmane ! L’apsara Menakā—impitoyable et sans pudeur—abandonna ce nouveau-né sur la rive du fleuve et s’en alla.
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights an ethical failure: abandoning a helpless newborn is portrayed as cruelty (nirdāyā) and shamelessness (nirapatrapā). It implicitly upholds dharma as compassion and responsibility toward vulnerable life.
Śaunaka describes Menakā, an apsaras, leaving the newborn/embryo on the riverbank and departing, setting up the ensuing consequences and developments in the surrounding Pramadvarā-related episode.