Shloka 33
आदि पर्व — अध्याय ८३: ययाति-इन्द्र-संवादः तथा अष्टक-प्रश्नः
Yayāti–Indra Dialogue and Aṣṭaka’s Inquiry
ऋतुं वै याचमानाया न ददाति पुमानृतुम् । भ्रूणहेत्युच्यते ब्रह्मन् स इह ब्रह्म॒वादिभि:,ययाति बोले--भगवन्! दानवराजकी पुत्री मुझसे ऋतुदान माँग रही थी; अतः मैंने धर्म-सम्मत मानकर यह कार्य किया, किसी दूसरे विचारसे नहीं। ब्रह्मन! जो पुरुष न्याययुक्त ऋतुकी याचना करनेवाली स्त्रीको ऋतुदान नहीं देता, वह ब्रह्मवादी दविद्वानोंद्वारा भ्रूणहत्या करनेवाला कहा जाता है। जो न्यायसम्मत कामनासे युक्त गम्या स्त्रीके द्वारा एकान्तमें प्रार्थना करनेपर उसके साथ समागम नहीं करता, वह धर्म-शास्त्रमें विद्वानोंद्वारा गर्भकी हत्या करनेवाला बताया जाता है
ṛtuṃ vai yācamānāyā na dadāti pumān ṛtum | bhrūṇahety ucyate brahman sa iha brahmavādibhiḥ ||
Śukra said: “O Brahman, if a man does not grant the requested season (the lawful time for conception) to a woman who asks for it, he is here called a slayer of the embryo by those who speak on Brahman and dharma. In other words, refusing a rightful request for conjugal union at the proper time is treated, in ethical judgment, as equivalent to destroying potential life.”
शुक्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames refusal of a rightful request for conjugal union at the proper time for conception (ṛtu) as a grave ethical fault—so serious that learned authorities liken it to ‘embryo-slaying’ (bhrūṇahatya), emphasizing responsibility toward procreation and marital duty within dharma.
Śukra is giving a dharma-based judgment: he states that when a woman requests ṛtu (the lawful fertile-time union) and the man refuses without justification, the refusal is condemned by authoritative teachers as equivalent to destroying potential offspring.