Shloka 21

पाण्डोः श्राद्धं, सत्यवत्याः वनगमनम्, बाल्यस्पर्धा च

Pāṇḍu’s Śrāddha, Satyavatī’s Withdrawal, and Childhood Rivalry

Devanagari script

नाहं सुकृपणे मार्ग स्ववीर्यक्षयशोचिते । स्वधर्मात्‌ सततापेते चरेय॑ वीर्यवर्जित:,मैं संतानोत्पादनकी शक्तिसे रहित हो गया हूँ। मेरा गृहस्थाश्रम संतानोत्पादन आदि धर्मसे सर्वथा शून्य है और मेरे लिये अपने वीर्यक्षयके कारण सर्वथा शोचनीय हो रहा है; अतः इस अत्यन्त दीनतापूर्ण मार्गपर अब मैं नहीं चल सकता

Transliteration

naahaṃ sukṛpaṇe mārge svavīryakṣayaśocite | svadharmāt satatāpete careyaṃ vīryavarjitaḥ ||

Translation

వైశంపాయనుడు అన్నాడు—“నా స్వవీర్యక్షయంతో దయనీయమై శోచనీయమై ఉన్న ఈ దారిలో నేను ఇక నడవలేను. సంతానోత్పత్తి శక్తి నాకు లుప్తమైంది; గృహస్థాశ్రమం తన యథార్థ ధర్మకర్తవ్యాల నుండి నిరంతరం దూరమై శూన్యమైపోయింది. కనుక ఈ అత్యంత అవమానకరమైన మార్గాన్ని నేను ఇక అనుసరించను.”

Word by Word

• {'na': 'not', 'aham (ahaṃ)': 'I', 'sukṛpaṇa': 'miserable, pitiable, wretched', 'mārga': 'path, course of life', 'sva': 'one’s own', 'vīrya': 'virility, potency

• also valor/strength (contextually: procreative potency)', 'kṣaya': 'loss, decline, wasting away', 'śocita': 'to be lamented, mournful, pitiable', 'svadharma': 'one’s own prescribed duty (especially according to āśrama/varna)', 'satata': 'continually, constantly', 'āpeta': 'departed from, fallen away, deprived of', 'careyam (careyaṃ)': 'I would practice/continue, I would proceed', 'vīryavarjita': 'devoid of virility/potency'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames gṛhastha-life as duty-bound: when one is unable to fulfill its central obligations—especially continuation of lineage—one may judge that continuing the same course is ethically and emotionally untenable. It highlights svadharma as tied to capacity and circumstance, and the pain of living in a state perceived as dharma-deprived.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker expresses despair at being incapable of begetting children (vīryakṣaya) and therefore seeing his householder path as empty of its proper dharma. He declares he cannot continue in this pitiable condition, setting up a turn toward an alternative resolution for lineage/duty.