Shloka 12
पञ्चवर्णोत्पत्तिः — The Origin of the Five-Colored Fiery Being and Ritual-Disruptor Lineages
देवानिष्टवा तपस्तप्त्वा कृपणै: पुत्रगृद्धिभि:
devān iṣṭvā tapas taptvā kṛpaṇaiḥ putragṛddhibhiḥ
「神々を礼拝し苦行（タパス）を修めても、（多くの者は）卑しい吝嗇の心で——子を、ことに男子を欲する渇望に駆られて——そうするのだ。」
व्याध उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse critiques religious acts—worship and austerity—when they are fueled by narrow self-interest, especially attachment to progeny. It implies that the ethical worth of tapas and devotion depends on intention: practice aimed at dharma and inner purification is superior to practice driven by craving and acquisitiveness.
In the Vyādha’s discourse on dharma (Vana Parva), he instructs his listener by exposing common but flawed motivations behind piety. Here he points to people who worship the gods and undertake austerities not for righteousness or liberation, but out of greedy longing for sons.