Shloka 7
Brahmāstra-pratisaṃhāraḥ, Parīkṣit-nāmakaraṇam, Nagarotsava-varṇanam
Withdrawal of the Brahmāstra; Naming of Parīkṣit; Description of Civic Festivities
पुत्र गत्वा मम वचो ब्रूयास्त्वं पितरं त्विदम् । दुर्मरं प्राणिनां वीर काले<प्राप्ते कथंचन
putra gatvā mama vaco brūyās tvaṃ pitaraṃ tv idam | durmaraṃ prāṇināṃ vīra kāle prāpte kathaṃcana ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “My son, go and convey these words of mine to your father: ‘O hero, for living beings death is hard to avoid—when the appointed time has arrived, it cannot be averted by any means.’”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the inevitability of death: when one’s destined time arrives, no effort can fully prevent it. Ethically, it functions as counsel toward acceptance, steadiness, and freedom from futile grief or blame.
Vaiśaṃpāyana frames a message to be delivered by a son to his father. The content is consolatory and instructive, reminding the father—addressed as ‘hero’—that mortality is unavoidable when the appointed time has come.