Shloka 23
पाण्डोः तपः-प्रसङ्गः, ऋण-धर्मः, अपत्य-प्राप्ति-चिन्ता
Pāṇḍu’s Asceticism, the Doctrine of Debts, and Deliberations on Progeny
तमुत्सृष्टं जले गर्भ राधाभर्ता महायशा: । पुत्रत्वे कल्पयामास सभार्य: सूतनन्दन:,जलमें छोड़े हुए उस नवजात शिशुको महायशस्वी सूतपुत्र अधिरथने, जिसकी पत्नीका नाम राधा था, ले लिया। उसने और उसकी पत्नीने उस बालकको अपना पुत्र बना लिया
tam utsṛṣṭaṃ jale garbhaṃ rādhābhartā mahāyaśāḥ | putratve kalpayāmāsa sabhāryaḥ sūtanandanaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: The illustrious Adhiratha, the charioteer’s son and husband of Rādhā, took up that newborn child who had been cast into the water. Together with his wife, he accepted the boy as their own son—an act that frames parenthood as chosen responsibility and compassionate protection rather than mere birth.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights compassionate dharma: protecting an abandoned life and accepting parental duty by choice. It also suggests that social identity and belonging can be shaped by nurture and ethical action, not only by birth.
An infant who has been set afloat/abandoned in water is found and taken in by Adhiratha, a charioteer’s son, along with his wife Rādhā. They adopt the child as their son (the child later known as Karṇa).