Shloka 8
ययाति–शक्रसंवादः
Speech-Ethics and Forbearance in the Celestial Court
देवयानी प्रजातासौ वृथाहं प्राप्तयौवना । यथा तया वृतो भर्ता तथैवाहं वृणोमि तम्,“देवयानी तो पुत्रवती हो गयी; किंतु मुझे जो जवानी मिली है, वह व्यर्थ जा रही है। जिस प्रकार उसने पतिका वरण किया है, उसी तरह मैं भी उन्हीं महाराजका क्यों न पतिके रूपमें वरण कर लूँ
devayānī prajātāsau vṛthāhaṃ prāptayauvanā | yathā tayā vṛto bhartā tathaivāhaṃ vṛṇomi tam ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “Devayānī has already become a mother; but the youth that has come to me is being wasted. Just as she chose her husband, so I too choose that very king as my husband.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical tension between personal desire and social-dharmic order: the speaker argues for equal agency in choosing a spouse, motivated by the fear that youth and life-opportunity will be wasted if one remains excluded while another has already secured family and status.
In the Devayānī episode, a rival woman speaks after Devayānī has borne children, expressing that her own youth is passing fruitlessly; she therefore declares her intention to choose the same king as husband, mirroring Devayānī’s earlier choice.