Shloka 7
Ruru–Pramadvarā: Lineage, Fosterage, Betrothal, and the Snakebite Crisis (Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 8)
अप्सरा मेनका तस्य त॑ गर्भ भगुनन्दन । उत्ससर्ज यथाकालं स्थूलकेशाश्रमं प्रति,भृगुनन्दन! मेनका अप्सराने गन्धर्वराजद्वारा स्थापित किये हुए उस गर्भको समय पूरा होनेपर स्थूलकेश मुनिके आश्रमके निकट जन्म दिया
apsarā menakā tasya taṁ garbha bhṛgunandana | utsasarja yathākālaṁ sthūlakeśāśramaṁ prati ||
Śaunaka said: O descendant of Bhṛgu, the Apsaras Menakā, when the time was fulfilled, delivered that embryo/child near the hermitage of the sage Sthūlakeśa. The episode underscores how extraordinary births are still placed within the bounds of proper time and sacred space, with the ascetic hermitage serving as a protective moral setting for the child’s arrival.
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when events involve celestial beings, the narrative frames birth within yathākāla (proper time) and within an āśrama setting, implying that auspicious timing and proximity to dharmic spaces support rightful upbringing and social-ethical order.
Śaunaka tells the Bhṛgu-descendant that the Apsaras Menakā, at full term, delivered the child she carried near the hermitage of the sage Sthūlakeśa.