Shloka 77
Adhyāya 123 — Droṇa’s Pedagogy: Arjuna’s Preeminence, Ekalavya’s Self-Training, and the Bhāsa-Lakṣya Trial
नातश्षतुर्थ प्रसवमापत्स्वपि वदन्त्युत । अतः: परं स्वैरिणी स्थाद् बन्धकी पञ्चमे भवेत्
Vaiśampāyana uvāca | nātaś caturtha-prasavam āpatsu api vadanty uta | ataḥ paraṁ svairiṇī syād bandhakī pañcame bhavet ||
Vaiśampāyana berkata: «Wahai Āryaputra! Walaupun dalam saat kesusahan, śāstra tidak merestui kelahiran anak keempat melampaui had yang dibenarkan. Maka, jika seorang wanita menuntut zuriat melebihi ukuran itu, dia dianggap ‘svairiṇī’—yang bertindak menurut kehendaknya sendiri tanpa batasan; dan apabila lahir anak kelima, dia dipandang sebagai ‘bandhakī’, wanita yang tercemar nama baiknya.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts that dharma-śāstra places limits on procreation and that even in hardship (āpatsu) one should not transgress prescribed boundaries; exceeding them is framed as a moral and social lapse.
Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, cites a normative śāstric rule: seeking offspring beyond the allowed number is censured, with escalating labels (‘svairiṇī’, then ‘bandhakī’) used to mark increasing transgression.