Shloka 31
आदि पर्व, अध्याय 96 — काश्यकन्याहरणं, शाल्वसमागमः, अम्बावचनं च
Kāśī princesses taken; encounter with Śālva; Ambā’s declaration
रेतोधा: पुत्र उन्नयति नरदेव यमक्षयात् | त्वं चास्य धाता गर्भस्य सत्यमाह शकुन्तला,'गर्भाधान करनेवाला पिता ही पुत्ररूपमें उत्पन्न होता है। नरदेव! पुत्र यमलोकसे पिताका उद्धार कर देता है। तुम्हीं इस गर्भके आधान करनेवाले हो। शकुन्तलाका कथन सत्य है”
Vaiśampāyana uvāca | retodhāḥ putra unnayati naradeva yamakṣayāt | tvaṃ cāsya dhātā garbhasya satyam āha Śakuntalā ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O king, the father who bestows the seed is, as it were, raised up again in the form of the son. A son delivers his father from the realm of Yama (death) and from decline there. You are indeed the begetter of this child; Śakuntalā speaks the truth.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse affirms the dharmic idea that begetting a son sustains lineage and that a son is a means of ‘uplifting’ or rescuing the father from the consequences associated with death (Yama), emphasizing responsibility, legitimacy, and truth in matters of progeny.
In the Śakuntalā episode, the speaker addresses the king, asserting that he is the true begetter of the pregnancy and that Śakuntalā’s claim is truthful, reinforcing the ethical obligation to acknowledge and accept one’s child.