Shloka 16
पाण्डोः तपः-प्रसङ्गः, ऋण-धर्मः, अपत्य-प्राप्ति-चिन्ता
Pāṇḍu’s Asceticism, the Doctrine of Debts, and Deliberations on Progeny
बन्धुपक्ष भयाद् भीता लज्जया च यशस्विनी । तामर्कः पुनरेवेदमब्रवीद् भरतर्षभ,यशस्विनी कुन्ती भाई-बन्धुओंमें बदनामी फैलनेके डरसे भी डरी हुई थी और नारीसुलभ लज्जासे भी वह विवश थी। भरतश्रेष्ठ) उस समय सूर्यदेवने पुनः: उससे कहा --
bandhupakṣa-bhayād bhītā lajjayā ca yaśasvinī | tām arkaḥ punar evedam abravīd bharatarṣabha ||
Vaiśampāyana said: The illustrious maiden, fearing the disgrace that might spread among her kinsmen and also constrained by womanly modesty, stood distressed. Then the Sun-god (Arka) again addressed her, O bull among the Bharatas—setting the stage for a decisive exchange where honor, family reputation, and personal responsibility come into tension.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a moral conflict central to dharma: personal choices are weighed not only by inner conscience but also by social consequences—family reputation (bandhupakṣa-bhaya) and modesty (lajjā). It frames how honor-culture pressures can constrain agency, even for the virtuous (yaśasvinī).
Kuntī, anxious about scandal among her relatives and restrained by modesty, is emotionally cornered. At this moment, the Sun-god Arka resumes speaking to her, indicating an ongoing divine-human dialogue that will shape subsequent events.