Shloka 55
आदि पर्व, अध्याय 96 — काश्यकन्याहरणं, शाल्वसमागमः, अम्बावचनं च
Kāśī princesses taken; encounter with Śālva; Ambā’s declaration
स तथेत्युक्त्वा त्रीन् पुत्रानुत्पादयामास; धृतराष्ट्रं पाण्डुं विदुरं चेति,उन्होंने “तथास्तु”/ कहकर धुृतराष्ट्र, पाण्डु और विदुर--इन तीन पुत्रोंको उत्पन्न किया
sa tathety uktvā trīn putrān utpādayāmāsa; dhṛtarāṣṭraṃ pāṇḍuṃ viduraṃ ceti
Vaiśampāyana said: Having replied, “So be it,” he brought forth three sons—Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Pāṇḍu, and Vidura. The line marks the decisive fulfillment of a boon or command, setting in motion the dynastic succession whose moral and political consequences will shape the epic’s later conflicts.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of assent and action: a simple acceptance (“so be it”) leads to irreversible consequences in lineage and governance. In the Mahābhārata’s moral universe, personal decisions—especially those tied to succession—carry long-ranging dharmic and political outcomes.
The narrator Vaiśampāyana reports that, after agreeing, a figure brings forth three sons—Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Pāṇḍu, and Vidura—thereby establishing the next generation central to the Kuru line and preparing the ground for later tensions over rule and righteousness.