Shloka 2
Vasiṣṭhasya śokaḥ, Vipāśā–Śatadrū-nāmākaraṇam, Kalmāṣapādasya bhaya-prasaṅgaḥ (Ādi Parva 167)
पुत्रजन्म परीप्सन् वै शोकोपहतचेतन: । नास्ति श्रेष्ठमपत्यं मे इति नित्यमचिन्तयत्
putrajanma parīpsan vai śokopahatacetanaḥ | nāsti śreṣṭham apatyaṃ me iti nityam acintayat |
പുത്രജന്മം ആഗ്രഹിച്ച് അവന്റെ ചിത്തം ശോകത്താൽ പീഡിതമായിരുന്നു; “എനിക്ക് ശ്രേഷ്ഠമായ സന്താനം ഇല്ല” എന്നു അവൻ നിത്യവും ചിന്തിച്ചു।
ब्राह्मण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how intense attachment to a desired outcome—here, ‘excellent offspring’—can dominate the mind and generate ongoing sorrow. Ethically, it points to the need for steadiness (mental balance) and discernment: duties and aspirations should not become obsessive fixations that erode inner clarity.
A brāhmaṇa, distressed at not having a worthy child, yearns for a son’s birth. His grief overwhelms him, and he repeatedly thinks that he has no excellent progeny, setting the emotional and narrative background for subsequent events driven by this longing.