Mahabharata 1.45.24 — Adi Parva, Adhyaya 45, Shloka 24
परिक्षिद्वृत्तान्तप्रश्नः
Inquiry into Parīkṣit’s Conduct and the Beginnings of His Downfall
एषो<स्माकं कुलस्तम्ब आस्ते स्वकुलवर्धन: । यानि पश्यसि वै ब्रह्मन् मूलानीहास्य वीरुध:
takṣaka uvāca | eṣo 'smākaṁ kula-stamba āste sva-kula-vardhanaḥ | yāni paśyasi vai brahman mūlānīhāsya vīrudhaḥ ||
ബ്രാഹ്മണാ! ഇവനാണ് നമ്മുടെ കുലസ്തംഭം; തന്റെ കുലം വർധിപ്പിക്കുന്നവനായി ഇവിടെ നിലകൊള്ളുന്നു. നീ ഇവിടെ ഈ വള്ളിയുടെ വേരുകൾ കാണുന്നുവല്ലോ—
तक्षक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a moral tension central to dharma: the survival of a lineage depends on a single ‘pillar’ who can continue the family line. It highlights responsibility to ancestors and descendants, using vivid symbolism (roots/creeper) to stress how fragile continuity becomes when duty is neglected or time intervenes.
Takṣaka addresses a Brahmin sage and interprets what the sage is seeing as symbolic: a ‘pillar of the clan’ and the ‘roots of a creeper’ represent the remaining supports and remnants of a lineage. In the surrounding episode (Jaratkāru narrative), such imagery is used to explain the peril of an ancestral line hanging by a single remaining descendant.
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