Shloka 10

Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 158 — Aṅgāraparṇa-saṃvāda and Gaṅgā-tīrtha Saṃghaṭṭa

Encounter at the Gaṅgā ford

Devanagari script

कथं हि विधवानाथा बालपुत्रा विना त्वया | मिथुनं जीवयिष्यामि स्थिता साधुगते पथि,मेरा पुत्र अभी बालक है, आपके बिना मैं अनाथ विधवा सन्मार्गपर स्थित रहकर इन दोनों बच्चोंको कैसे जिलाऊँगी

Transliteration

kathaṃ hi vidhavānāthā bālaputrā vinā tvayā | mithunaṃ jīvayiṣyāmi sthitā sādhugate pathi |

Translation

หากไร้ท่าน ข้าพเจ้าจะเป็นหม้ายไร้ที่พึ่ง มีบุตรยังเยาว์—แม้ยืนมั่นอยู่บนหนทางแห่งธรรม—แล้วจะเลี้ยงให้เด็กทั้งสองมีชีวิตรอดได้อย่างไร?

Word by Word

कथम्how?

हिindeed/for

विधवाwidow

अनाथाhelpless, without protector

बालपुत्राhaving a young son (mother of a young son)

विनाwithout

त्वयाby/with you

मिथुनम्the pair, the two (children)

जीवयिष्यामिI will keep alive / I will sustain

स्थिताstanding/remaining, situated

साधुगतेin the well-trodden/virtuous (course)

पथिon the path

Speaker

ब्राह्मण उवाच

Characters & Entities

brāhmaṇa (speaker)

widow (vidhavā)

young son (bālaputra)

the pair of children (mithuna)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds dharma as lived responsibility: righteousness is not abstract but includes protecting and sustaining dependents. It highlights the ethical tension between personal virtue and harsh social realities faced by a widow without support.

What is happening in the narrative?

A brāhmaṇa woman (speaking as a vulnerable widow with a young son) appeals emotionally and morally to someone she addresses as “you,” asking how she can keep two children alive without that person’s support while trying to remain on the righteous path.