Shloka 3
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 148: Vāsudeva’s Report—Mobilization and the Nīti Sequence
Sāma–Bheda–Daṇḍa
सोम: प्रजापति: पूर्व कुरूणां वंशवर्धन: । सोमाद् बभूव षष्ठो5यं ययातिर्नहुषात्मज:,“सबसे पहले प्रजापति सोम हुए, जो कौरववंशकी वृद्धिके आदि कारण हैं। सोमसे छठी पीढ़ीमें नहुषपुत्र ययातिका जन्म हुआ
somaḥ prajāpatiḥ pūrvaṃ kurūṇāṃ vaṃśavardhanaḥ | somād babhūva ṣaṣṭho ’yaṃ yayātir nahuṣātmajaḥ ||
Vāyu berkata: “Pada permulaan, ada Soma, sang Prajāpati, sumber utama yang menyebabkan keturunan Kuru berkembang dan makmur. Daripada Soma, pada generasi keenam, lahirlah Yayāti, putera Nahuṣa.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse grounds the Kuru line in a sacred genealogy, implying that political authority and responsibility (dharma of kingship) are tied to remembered lineage; it frames later ethical choices in the war narrative as actions of heirs to an ancient, divinely connected tradition.
Vāyu is recounting the ancestral succession: Soma is presented as an early Prajāpati and a key progenitor for the Kurus, and Yayāti is identified as born in the sixth generation from Soma, specifically as the son of Nahuṣa.