Shloka 73

Adhyāya 90: Babhruvāhana’s Reception and the Commencement of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Aśvamedha

Devanagari script

कथं सक्तून्‌ ग्रहीष्यामि भूत्वा धर्मोपघातक: । कल्याणवृत्ते कल्याणि नैवं त्वं वक्तुमहसि,श्वशुरने कहा--बेटी! हवा और धूपके मारे तुम्हारा सारा शरीर सूख रहा है--शिथिल होता जा रहा है। तुम्हारी कान्ति फीकी पड़ गयी है। उत्तम व्रत और आचारका पालन करनेवाली पुत्री! तुम बहुत दुर्बल हो गयी हो। क्षुधाके कष्टसे तुम्हारा चित्त अत्यन्त व्याकुल है। तुम्हें ऐसी अवस्थामें देखकर भी तुम्हारे हिस्सेका सत्तू कैसे ले लूँ। ऐसा करनेसे तो मैं धर्मकी हानि करनेवाला हो जाऊँगा। अत: कल्याणमय आचरण करनेवाली कल्याणि! तुम्हें ऐसी बात नहीं कहनी चाहिये

Transliteration

kathaṁ saktūn grahīṣyāmi bhūtvā dharmopaghātakaḥ | kalyāṇavṛtte kalyāṇi naivaṁ tvaṁ vaktum arhasi ||

Translation

The father-in-law said: “How could I take the roasted barley-flour (sattu) from you and thereby become one who harms dharma? O auspicious one, whose conduct is noble and beneficent—this is not something you should say.”

Word by Word

कथम्how?

सक्तून्parched flour; sattu

ग्रहीष्यामिshall take

भूत्वाhaving become

धर्मोपघातकःone who harms dharma

कल्याणवृत्तेO you of noble conduct

कल्याणिO auspicious one

नnot

एवम्thus; in this way

त्वम्you

वक्तुम्to say

अर्हसिyou ought; you are fit

Speaker

श्षशुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

śvaśura (father-in-law)

saktū (sattu; roasted grain flour)

dharma

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

One should not accept personal benefit when it would cause harm to another or violate dharma; ethical restraint and compassion take precedence over one’s own needs.

What is happening in the narrative?

A father-in-law refuses to take the sattu allotted to his daughter-in-law, judging that accepting it—given her weakened condition—would amount to harming dharma; he admonishes her not to propose such self-sacrifice.