Mahabharata 1.46.7 — Adi Parva, Adhyaya 46, Shloka 7
शृङ्गिशापः—तक्षककाश्यपसंवादः (Śṛṅgī’s Curse and the Takṣaka–Kāśyapa Dialogue)
मया निवर्तिता बुद्धिरब्रह्मचर्यात् पितामहा: । करिष्ये व: प्रियं काम॑ निवेक्ष्येडहहमसंशयम्
Takṣaka uvāca: mayā nivartitā buddhir abrahmacaryāt pitāmahaḥ | kariṣye vaḥ priyaṃ kāmaṃ nivekṣyed aham asaṃśayam ||
मया निवर्तिता बुद्धिरब्रह्मचर्यात् पितामहाः। करिष्ये वः प्रियं कामं निवेक्ष्येऽहमसंशयम्॥
तक्षक उवाच
Educational Q&A
A personal vow (such as lifelong celibacy) may be ethically reconsidered when higher duties arise—especially compassion and responsibility toward elders and family welfare. The verse highlights the dharmic weight of honoring and relieving an elder’s distress, even if it requires revising one’s prior resolve.
Takṣaka addresses his grandfather, explaining that he had resolved not to marry, but on seeing the elder in a pitiable condition ‘hanging like a bird,’ he abandons that resolve and promises to fulfill the elder’s wish by entering marriage/householder life.
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