Mahabharata 1.111.16 — Adi Parva, Adhyaya 111, Shloka 16
पाण्डोः तपः-प्रसङ्गः, ऋण-धर्मः, अपत्य-प्राप्ति-चिन्ता
Pāṇḍu’s Asceticism, the Doctrine of Debts, and Deliberations on Progeny
बन्धुपक्ष भयाद् भीता लज्जया च यशस्विनी । तामर्कः पुनरेवेदमब्रवीद् भरतर्षभ
bandhupakṣa-bhayād bhītā lajjayā ca yaśasvinī | tām arkaḥ punar evedam abravīd bharatarṣabha ||
వైశంపాయనుడు పలికెను—యశస్వినీ కన్య బంధువర్గంలో అపకీర్తి వ్యాపిస్తుందనే భయంతో వణికింది; స్త్రీలజ్జ కూడా ఆమెను బంధించింది. ఓ భరతశ్రేష్ఠా! అప్పుడు అర్కుడు (సూర్యుడు) ఆమెతో మళ్లీ ఇలా పలికెను.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a moral conflict central to dharma: personal choices are weighed not only by inner conscience but also by social consequences—family reputation (bandhupakṣa-bhaya) and modesty (lajjā). It frames how honor-culture pressures can constrain agency, even for the virtuous (yaśasvinī).
Kuntī, anxious about scandal among her relatives and restrained by modesty, is emotionally cornered. At this moment, the Sun-god Arka resumes speaking to her, indicating an ongoing divine-human dialogue that will shape subsequent events.
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