Shloka 17
साहं दुःखान्विता देवि पतिपुत्रविनाकृता । इहैव प्रायमाशिपष्ये प्रेक्षन्त्यास्ते न संशय:,'देवि! मैं पति और पुत्र दोनोंसे वज्चित होकर दु:खमें डूब गयी हूँ। अतः अब यहीं तुम्हारे देखते-देखते मैं आमरण उपवास करूँगी, इसमें संशय नहीं है”
sāhaṃ duḥkhānvitā devi patiputravinākṛtā | ihaiva prāyam āśiṣye prekṣantyās te na saṃśayaḥ ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “O goddess, bereft of both husband and son, I am overwhelmed by sorrow. Therefore, here itself—before your very eyes—I shall undertake prāya (a fast unto death); of this there is no doubt.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical tension between overwhelming personal grief and the choice of a drastic vow (prāya/fast unto death). It highlights how bereavement can drive a person toward renunciation-like acts, raising questions about dharma, endurance, and the limits of self-harm as a response to suffering.
A bereaved woman, having lost both husband and son, declares to the addressed ‘devī’ that she will begin a fast unto death immediately, in that very place and in the other’s presence, asserting her resolve as certain.