Adi Parva Adhyaya 123 Shloka 77 - Mahabharata | Lao | Vedapath

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Shloka 77

Adhyāya 123 — Droṇa’s Pedagogy: Arjuna’s Preeminence, Ekalavya’s Self-Training, and the Bhāsa-Lakṣya Trial

Devanagari script

नातश्षतुर्थ प्रसवमापत्स्वपि वदन्त्युत । अतः: परं स्वैरिणी स्थाद्‌ बन्धकी पञ्चमे भवेत्‌

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca | nātaś caturtha-prasavam āpatsu api vadanty uta | ataḥ paraṁ svairiṇī syād bandhakī pañcame bhavet ||

Translation

ໄວສຳປາຍະນະ ກ່າວວ່າ: «ໂອ ອາຣຍະບຸດ! ແມ່ນແຕ່ໃນຍາມຄັບຂັນ ຄຳສອນໃນຊາສະຕຣາກໍບໍ່ອະນຸຍາດໃຫ້ມີການໃຫ້ກຳເນີດລູກຄົນທີສີ່ເກີນກວ່າຂອບເຂດທີ່ກຳນົດ. ດັ່ງນັ້ນ ຖ້າຍິງໃດປາຖະໜາລູກເກີນຂອບເຂດນັ້ນ ນາງຈະຖືກເອີ້ນວ່າ ‘svairiṇī’—ຜູ້ປະພຶດຕາມໃຈຕົນເອງໂດຍບໍ່ຢູ່ໃນການຄວບຄຸມ; ແລະເມື່ອມີລູກຄົນທີຫ້າ ນາງຈະຖືກນັບວ່າ ‘bandhakī’—ຍິງຜູ້ເສຍຊື່ສຽງ»។

Word by Word

नnot

अतःtherefore; from this

चतुर्थम्fourth

प्रसवम्childbirth; begetting; offspring (act of giving birth)

आपत्सुin calamities; in times of distress

अपिeven; also

वदन्तिthey say; they prescribe

उतand; moreover (emphatic particle)

अतःtherefore

परम्after that; beyond; further

स्वैरिणीa wanton woman; a woman acting at her own will

स्यात्would be; should be

बन्धकीa kept woman; concubine (lit. bound/attached woman)

पञ्चमेin/at the fifth (i.e., on the fifth child)

भवेत्would become; should become

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse asserts that dharma-śāstra places limits on procreation and that even in hardship (āpatsu) one should not transgress prescribed boundaries; exceeding them is framed as a moral and social lapse.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, cites a normative śāstric rule: seeking offspring beyond the allowed number is censured, with escalating labels (‘svairiṇī’, then ‘bandhakī’) used to mark increasing transgression.