Shloka 25
Jarā’s Account and the Enthronement of Jarāsandha (जरासंधोत्पत्तिः अभिषेकश्च)
ततः सभार्य: प्रणतस्तमुवाच बृहद्रथ: । पुत्रदर्शननैराश्याद् वाष्पसंदिग्धया गिरा
tataḥ sabhāryaḥ praṇatas tam uvāca bṛhadrathaḥ | putradarśana-nairāśyād vāṣpa-saṃdigdhyayā girā ||
Alors le roi Bṛhadratha, accompagné de ses reines, se prosterna et s’adressa au sage. Désespéré par la longue déception de n’avoir jamais contemplé un fils, la parole étranglée et brouillée de larmes, il parla—révélant à la fois la douleur humaine d’une lignée inachevée et la confiance révérencieuse du roi dans la vérité des ascètes pour y chercher conseil et remède.
स उवाच मुनि राजा भगवन् नास्ति मे सुतः ।
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights humility and reliance on dharmic, truth-bearing ascetic counsel: even a powerful king, distressed by the absence of an heir, approaches a sage with reverence, showing that authority is ethically tempered by submission to spiritual insight and truth.
After the sage offers a boon, King Bṛhadratha comes with his queens, bows down, and speaks through tears—his voice clouded by grief—because he has lost hope of ever seeing a son.