Shloka 67

Vānaprastha-dharma and Tapas: Śiva–Umā Saṃvāda

Forest-Stage Discipline and Austerity

Devanagari script

न तेषां क्षीरपा: केचिज्जायन्ते कुलवर्धना: । प्रजाक्षयेण युज्यन्ते कुलवंशक्षयेण च

Transliteration

na teṣāṃ kṣīrapāḥ kecij jāyante kulavardhanāḥ | prajā-kṣayeṇa yujyante kula-vaṃśa-kṣayeṇa ca ||

Translation

അവരുടെ വംശത്തിൽ ക്ഷീരപാനയോഗ്യരായും കുലം വർധിപ്പിക്കുന്നവരായും ഒരാളും ജനിക്കുകയില്ല; അവർ സന്താനക്ഷയത്തിൽ പതിക്കുകയും കുലവും വംശവും ക്ഷയിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യും.

Word by Word

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• तेषाम्: of them
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: masculine/neuter, genitive, plural

• क्षीरपाः: milk-drinkers
• क्षीरपाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षीरप (क्षीर + पा)
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• केचित्: any/some
• केचित्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: किम्
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• जायन्ते: are born
• Type: Verb
• Root: जन्
• Form: present, indicative, ātmanepada, third, plural

• कुलवर्धनाः: increasers of the family/line
• कुलवर्धनाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कुलवर्धन (कुल + वर्धन)
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• प्रजाक्षयेण: by/with the destruction of offspring
• प्रजाक्षयेण: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रजाक्षय (प्रजा + क्षय)
• Form: masculine, instrumental, singular

• युज्यन्ते: are joined/meet with; come to be afflicted with
• Type: Verb
• Root: युज्
• Form: present, indicative, ātmanepada, third, plural

• कुलवंशक्षयेण: by/with the destruction of family and lineage
• कुलवंशक्षयेण: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुलवंशक्षय (कुल + वंश + क्षय)
• Form: masculine, instrumental, singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

Speaker

शक्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śakra (Indra)
• kṣīra (milk)
• go (cow)
• vatsa (calf) (implied by the context of 'small-calf cows')
• kula
• vaṃśa
• prajā

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Exploiting a cow’s milk when her calf is still dependent—taking without due restraint and care—is treated as adharma; the text warns that such greed harms one’s own future through loss of progeny and decline of family lineage.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śakra (Indra) delivers a moral warning: people who improperly consume milk taken from cows with young calves will not produce worthy offspring and will suffer prajā-kṣaya (loss of children) and kula-vaṃśa-kṣaya (decline of clan and lineage).