Shloka 20
सोमक–जन्तु उपाख्यानम्
Somaka–Jantu Exemplar: The Quest for a Hundred Sons
वपायां हूयमानायां धूममाप्राय मातर: । ततस्ता: सुमहावीर्याञ्जनयिष्यन्ति ते सुतान्,जिस समय उसकी चर्बीकी आहुति दी जायगी उस समय उसके धूएँको सूँघ लेनेपर सब माताएँ (गर्भवती हो) आपके लिये अत्यन्त पराक्रमी पुत्रोंको जन्म देंगी
vapāyāṃ hūyamānāyāṃ dhūmam āprāya mātaraḥ | tatās tāḥ sumahāvīryān janayiṣyanti te sutān ||
അവന്റെ കൊഴുപ്പ് അഗ്നിയിൽ ആഹുതിയായി ഒഴുക്കുമ്പോൾ, ആ പുക ശ്വസിച്ചാൽ മാത്താക്കൾ എല്ലാവരും ഗർഭം ധരിച്ചു, നിനക്കായി അത്യന്തം വീര്യമുള്ള പുത്രന്മാരെ പ്രസവിക്കും।
सोमक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a belief in ritual causality: specific sacrificial acts are presented as producing desired worldly outcomes (here, heroic offspring). Ethically, it also invites reflection on the limits of desire-driven ritual—seeking progeny and power through rites rather than through restraint and dharma.
Somaka describes a procedure in which fat is offered into the fire; the resulting smoke, when inhaled by the women, is said to make them conceive and later give birth to exceptionally valorous sons for the addressed person.