Shloka 20
मतंग उवाच अन्त्ययोनिरयोनिर्वा कथं स कुशली भवेत् । कुशल तु कुतस्तस्य यस्येयं जननी पित:
Mataṅga uvāca: antyayonir ayonir vā kathaṁ sa kuśalī bhavet | kuśalaṁ tu kutaḥ tasya yasye-yaṁ jananī pitāḥ ||
Матангa сказал: «О отец, как может быть по-настоящему благополучен тот, кто рождён в “последнем”, презираемом рождении — или в ещё более низком? Откуда взяться благу у человека, чьё самое происхождение — мать и отец — таково?»
मतंग उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse voices a common social assumption in the epic world: that a person’s welfare and social standing are constrained by birth and parentage. In the broader ethical discussions of the Anuśāsana-parvan, such statements often function as positions to be examined—inviting reflection on whether virtue and auspiciousness arise from lineage or from conduct (ācāra) and dharma.
Mataṅga addresses his father and raises a pointed question about the possibility of well-being for someone born in a stigmatized or ‘lowest’ birth. The line is part of a dialogue framed as moral inquiry, where social status, origin, and the grounds of true ‘kuśala’ (welfare/auspiciousness) are being debated.