Shloka 231
पाण्डोः तपः-प्रसङ्गः, ऋण-धर्मः, अपत्य-प्राप्ति-चिन्ता
Pāṇḍu’s Asceticism, the Doctrine of Debts, and Deliberations on Progeny
दृष्टवा कुमारं जात॑ सा वार्ष्णेयी दीनमानसा । एकाग्रं चिन्तयामास कि कृत्वा सुकृतं भवेत्
dṛṣṭvā kumāraṃ jātā sā vārṣṇeyī dīnamānasā | ekāgraṃ cintayāmāsa kiṃ kṛtvā sukṛtaṃ bhavet ||
Seeing that newborn boy, the Vārṣṇeyī woman—her heart weighed down with distress—fixed her mind in one-pointed thought, considering what she might do so that a truly meritorious deed would result. The verse highlights an ethical turn: in a moment of fear and sorrow, she seeks a course of action that will count as genuine good (sukṛta), not merely a convenient choice.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even under distress, one should pause and reflect with a focused mind on what action will truly count as sukṛta (merit)—i.e., what aligns with dharma rather than impulse, fear, or self-interest.
The narrator says that a woman identified as Vārṣṇeyī sees a newborn boy and, feeling sorrowful, concentrates and deliberates about what she should do next so that her action becomes a genuinely virtuous deed.