Shloka 9
Adhyaya 29 — Alarka’s Inquiry and Madalasa’s Teaching on Householder Dharma (Gārhasthya), Vaiśvadeva, and Atithi Hospitality
स्वाहाकारस्वधाकारौ वषट्कारश्च पुत्रक ।
हन्तकारस्तथा चान्यस्तस्याः स्तनचतुष्टयम् ॥
svāhākārasvadhākārau vaṣaṭkāraś ca putraka | hantakāras tathā cānyas tasyāḥ stanacatuṣṭayam ||
ഹേ വത്സാ, അവൾക്കു നാലു സ്തന്യധാരകളുണ്ട്—സ്വാഹാകാര, സ്വധാകാര, വഷട്കാര, കൂടാതെ മറ്റൊന്ന് ഹന്താകാര എന്നു വിളിക്കപ്പെടുന്നു।
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FAQs
The verse encodes a dharmic model of reciprocity: household life is sustained by properly directed offerings—humans ‘milk’ the world-order through ritual speech-acts (svāhā/svadhā/vaṣaṭ etc.), and in return maintain devas, pitṛs, and other beings.
Primarily ‘Vamśānucarita / Dharma-upadeśa’ material rather than sarga/pratisarga; it belongs to prescriptive dharma teaching embedded in Purāṇic narrative.
The ‘cow’ functions as a symbol of the universe’s nourisher (dhenu/trayī): Vedic utterances are treated as channels through which different cosmic recipients are fed, suggesting speech (mantra) as the subtle conduit of sustenance.