Shloka 23
नियोगप्रसङ्गः — The Niyoga Episode: Births of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Pāṇḍu, and Vidura
दुहिता प्रथिता लोके मानुषे रूपसम्पदा । तस्या हेतोर्महाभाग सवत्सां गां ममेप्सिताम्
vaiśampāyana uvāca | duhitā prathitā loke mānuṣe rūpasampadā | tasyā hetor mahābhāga savatsāṃ gāṃ mamepsitām |
“മനുഷ്യലോകത്തിൽ അവൾ രൂപസമ്പത്തിനാൽ പ്രസിദ്ധയാണ്. മഹാഭാഗാ, അവൾക്കായി തന്നെയാണ് ഞാൻ കിടാവോടുകൂടിയ ഈ പശുവിനെ നേടാൻ ആഗ്രഹിക്കുന്നത്.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how social reputation (prathā) and perceived excellence (rūpasampad) can become motives for acquisition and exchange; ethically, it invites reflection on desire-driven requests and the dharmic limits of seeking valued objects (here, a cow with calf) for personal aims.
The narrator reports that a daughter famed for beauty is the reason for a request: the speaker asks a noble person to give (or allow him to obtain) a cow along with her calf, presenting the request as connected to that woman’s sake.