Shloka 9
Ruru–Pramadvarā: Lineage, Fosterage, Betrothal, and the Snakebite Crisis (Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 8)
कन्याममरगर्भाभां ज्वलन्तीमिव च श्रिया | तां ददर्श समुत्सृष्टां नदीतीरे महानृषि:,तदनन्तर तेजस्वी महर्षि स्थूलकेशने एकान्त स्थानमें त्यागी हुई उस बन्धुहीन कन्याको देखा, जो देवताओंकी बालिकाके समान दिव्य शोभासे प्रकाशित हो रही थी। उस समय उस कन्याको वैसी दशामें देखकर द्विजश्रेष्ठ मुनिवर स्थूलकेशके मनमें बड़ी दया आयी; अतः वे उसे उठा लाये और उसका पालन-पोषण करने लगे। वह सुन्दरी कन्या उनके शुभ आश्रमपर दिनोदिन बढ़ने लगी
kanyām amaragarbhābhāṃ jvalantīm iva ca śriyā | tāṃ dadarśa samutsṛṣṭāṃ nadītīre mahān ṛṣiḥ ||
Śaunaka said: On the bank of a river, the great sage saw a young maiden who had been abandoned. She shone with auspicious beauty, as if radiant with fortune itself, and appeared like a celestial child. The sight evokes compassion and the ethical impulse to protect the helpless, presenting care for the forsaken as a quiet form of dharma.
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharma expressed as compassion: when someone helpless is found abandoned, the righteous response is protective care rather than indifference.
Śaunaka narrates that a great sage encounters an abandoned maiden on a riverbank, strikingly radiant and auspicious in appearance, setting up the ensuing act of rescue and guardianship described in the surrounding prose tradition.