Shloka 17
अविक्रेयं सुतं ज्येष्ठं भगवानाह भार्गव:।।।।ममापि दयितं विद्धि कनिष्ठं शुनकं नृप।तस्मात्कनीयसं पुत्रं न दास्ये तव पार्थिव ।।।।
avikreyaṃ sutaṃ jyeṣṭhaṃ bhagavān āha bhārgavaḥ |
mamāpi dayitaṃ viddhi kaniṣṭhaṃ śunakaṃ nṛpa |
tasmāt kanīyasaṃ putraṃ na dāsye tava pārthiva ||
भगवान् भार्गव म्हणाले—‘ज्येष्ठ पुत्र विक्रीस योग्य नाही. आणि हे नृप, कनिष्ठ शुनक मला देखील अत्यंत प्रिय आहे, हे जाण. म्हणून, हे पार्थिव, मी माझा कनिष्ठ पुत्र तुला देणार नाही.’
FAQs
The verse frames a boundary of moral propriety: certain familial obligations are treated as inviolable—here, the father asserts that the eldest should not be commodified, and he refuses to surrender the youngest whom he cherishes.
King Ambarīṣa seeks a son (as part of the Śunaḥśepa narrative). The father Ṛcīka responds by refusing to part with either the eldest (non-sellable) or the youngest (beloved).
Protectiveness and principled refusal—upholding a claimed rule of propriety even under royal request.