Shloka 953

Devanagari script

तयो: प्रियं मे कर्तव्यमिति जानामि चाप्यहम्‌ | मेरे कारण आज मेरे माता-पिता बहुत संतप्त होंगे। उन्हें जीवित देखकर ही मैं जी रहा हूँ। मुझे उन दोनोंका भरण-पोषण करना चाहिये। मैं यह भी जानता हूँ कि माता-पिताका प्रिय करना ही मेरा कर्तव्य है

Transliteration

tayoḥ priyaṃ me kartavyam iti jānāmi cāpy aham | mama kāraṇād adya me mātā-pitarau bahu santaptau bhaviṣyataḥ | tau jīvantau dṛṣṭvaiva ahaṃ jīvāmi | mama tayor bharaṇa-poṣaṇaṃ kartavyam | etad api jānāmi yat mātā-pitroḥ priya-karaṇam eva mama kartavyam |

Translation

मैं जानता हूँ कि उन दोनों का प्रिय करना मेरा कर्तव्य है। मेरे कारण आज मेरे माता-पिता अत्यन्त संतप्त होंगे। उन्हें जीवित देखकर ही मैं जी रहा हूँ; इसलिए मुझे उन दोनों का भरण-पोषण करना चाहिए। मैं यह भी जानता हूँ कि माता-पिता को प्रसन्न करना ही मेरा धर्म है।

Word by Word

तयोःof those two (parents)

प्रियम्what is dear/pleasing (act)

मेmy / for me

कर्तव्यम्to be done / ought to be done

इतिthus

जानामिI know

चand

अपिalso/even

अहम्I

Speaker

यम उवाच

Characters & Entities

य

यम (Yama)

म

माता (mother)

प

पिता (father)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage teaches that serving and pleasing one’s parents—especially by sustaining and caring for them—is a primary form of dharma. Personal choices should be weighed against the suffering they may cause to parents and against one’s responsibility for their welfare.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yama articulates an ethical resolve: he recognizes that his parents’ distress is tied to him, that his own life is bound up with their continued well-being, and that he must therefore prioritize their maintenance and act in ways that are dear to them.