Shloka 52
Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154
आत्ममांसोपवृत्तं च शरीरार्धमयीं तनुम् । पितृणां वंशकर्तरिं वने त्यक्त्वा क्व यास्यथ
ātmamāṃsopavṛttaṃ ca śarīrārdhamayīṃ tanum | pitṝṇāṃ vaṃśakartarīṃ vane tyaktvā kva yāsyatha ||
ਜੰਬੂਕ ਨੇ ਆਖਿਆ—ਇਹ ਬਾਲਕ ਤੁਹਾਡੇ ਆਪਣੇ ਹੀ ਰਕਤ-ਮਾਸ ਨਾਲ ਪਲਿਆ ਹੈ, ਜਿਵੇਂ ਤੁਹਾਡੇ ਸਰੀਰ ਦਾ ਅੱਧਾ ਹਿੱਸਾ; ਅਤੇ ਇਹੀ ਪਿਤਰਾਂ ਦੀ ਵੰਸ਼-ਪਰੰਪਰਾ ਨੂੰ ਅੱਗੇ ਵਧਾਉਣ ਵਾਲਾ ਹੈ। ਇਸ ਨੂੰ ਜੰਗਲ ਵਿੱਚ ਛੱਡ ਕੇ ਤੁਸੀਂ ਕਿੱਥੇ ਜਾਵੋਗੇ?
जम्बुक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse asserts a strong ethical claim: one’s child is not separate from oneself (like half one’s body) and is the bearer of ancestral continuity; therefore abandoning the child is a grave breach of familial and ancestral duty (dharma).
Jambuka confronts someone who has left a child in the forest, arguing that the child—born of their own flesh and blood and essential for continuing the ancestors’ lineage—cannot be cast away, and challenges them: after such an act, where could they go (morally or socially) without blame?