Shloka 21
Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 158 — Aṅgāraparṇa-saṃvāda and Gaṅgā-tīrtha Saṃghaṭṭa
Encounter at the Gaṅgā ford
त्रितयं सर्वथाप्येवं विनशिष्यत्यसंशयम् । त्वया विहीनं तस्मात् त्वं मां परित्यक्तुमहसि,नाथ! इस प्रकार आपके बिना मैं और ये दोनों बच्चे--तीनों ही सर्वथा विनष्ट हो जायाँगे --इसमें तनिक भी संशय नहीं है। इसलिये आप केवल मुझे त्याग दीजिये
tritayaṁ sarvathāpy evaṁ vinaśiṣyaty asaṁśayam | tvayā vihīnaṁ tasmāt tvaṁ māṁ parityaktum arhasi, nātha |
“This group of three will, in every way, surely perish—there is no doubt of it—if deprived of you. Therefore, O protector, you ought to abandon me (alone).”
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights an ethical appeal grounded in compassion and responsibility: the speaker argues that abandoning the vulnerable leads to certain ruin, and urges a choice that preserves the children even at the speaker’s personal cost—an instance of self-sacrificial reasoning within dharma.
A Brahmin, addressing someone as “nātha” (protector), pleads that without this person the three (the Brahmin and two children) will surely perish; therefore the Brahmin asks to be abandoned instead—implying the protector should save the children and not be burdened by saving all three.