Mahabharata 1.74.98 — Adi Parva, Adhyaya 74, Shloka 98
अध्याय ७४: अक्रोध–क्षमा–निवासनीति
Chapter 74: Non-anger, Forbearance, and the Ethics of Residence
कुलवंशप्रतिष्ठां हि पितर: पुत्रमब्रुवन् । उत्तमं सर्वधर्माणां तस्मात् पुत्र न संत्यजेत्
kula-vaṁśa-pratiṣṭhāṁ hi pitaraḥ putram abruvan | uttamaṁ sarva-dharmāṇāṁ tasmāt putra na saṁtyajet ||
บรรพชนกล่าวว่า “บุตรคือหลักแห่งเกียรติยศของตระกูลและวงศ์สกุล” เพราะฉะนั้น ในบรรดาธรรมทั้งปวง ธรรมเกี่ยวกับบุตรย่อมเป็นยอดยิ่ง ดังนั้นไม่พึงทอดทิ้งบุตร
दुष्यन्त उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that preserving family and lineage is a major ethical duty, and that a son is traditionally regarded as central to that continuity; therefore abandoning one’s son is presented as contrary to dharma.
Duṣyanta is arguing from ancestral authority and social-religious norms, emphasizing that the forefathers value a son as the support of family and lineage, and using this to justify the injunction not to give up the son.
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