Shloka 9
Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 158 — Aṅgāraparṇa-saṃvāda and Gaṅgā-tīrtha Saṃghaṭṭa
Encounter at the Gaṅgā ford
मम हि त्वद्विहीनाया: सर्वप्राणधने श्वर । कथं स्यातां सुतौ बालौ भरेयं च कथं त्वहम्,मेरे सर्वस्वके स्वामी प्राणेश्वर! आपके न रहनेपर मेरे इन दोनों बच्चोंकी क्या दशा होगी? मैं किस तरह इन बालकोंका भरण-पोषण करूँगी?
mama hi tvad-vihīnāyāḥ sarva-prāṇa-dhaneśvara | kathaṃ syātāṃ sutau bālau bhareyaṃ ca kathaṃ tvaham ||
For me, bereft of you—O lord who is my very life and treasure—what will become of these two young sons? And how could I, alone, possibly sustain and raise them? (The speaker appeals to her husband’s duty and compassion, grounding her plea in the ethical responsibility of protecting dependents.)
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights gṛhastha-dharma: one’s ethical responsibility to protect and provide for dependents. The speaker frames her plea around vulnerability in widowhood/abandonment and the duty of care owed to children and spouse.
A Brahmin woman addresses her husband as her ‘life and treasure,’ anxiously asking what will happen to their two small sons if he is absent, and how she alone could maintain them—an appeal meant to dissuade him from leaving or to awaken his sense of obligation.